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PRINTING  TYPES 

THEIR   HISTORY,   FORMS,  AND  USE 


PRINTING  TYPES 

THEIR  HISTORY,  FORMS,  AND  USE 
A  STUDY  IN  SURVIVALS 

BY 

DANIEL  BERKELEY  UPDIKE 

WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS 

'^ A''unca  han  tenido,  ni  tienen  las  artes  otros 
enemigos  que  los  ignor antes'''' 

VOLUME  I 


CAMBRIDGE 
HARVARD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

LONDON:    HUMPHREY  MILFORD 

OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

1922 


COPYRIGHT.  1922,  BY  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 


First  Printing,  August,  1922 
Second  Printing,  January,  1923 


I).  B.  L'PDIKE,  THE  MERRYMOUNT  PRESS,  BOSTON,  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 

THE  Lectures  on  which  this  book  is  based  were 
delivered  as  part  of  a  course  on  the  Technique  of 
Piinting  in  the  Graduate  School  of  Business  Ad- 
ministration of  Harvard  University,  during  the  years  1911  — 
1916,  and  since  then  I  hove  recast  the  material  into  a  form 
suitable  for  publication.  Each  season  that  the  talks  were  given 
I  saw  the  necessity  for  amplifcation  and  abridgment  of  mat- 
ter, and  for  modification  of  judgment,  the  results  of  which  have 
been  incorporated  in  these  volumes;  and  now  that  my  task  is 
finished,  I  realize  that  further  emendations  could  be  continued 
with  profit  almost  indefinitely.  But  while  such  a  book  can  never, 
in  any  strict  sense,  be  complete,  it  must  be  completed,  though  even 
the  measure  of  perfection  hoped  for  may  not  have  been  reached. 
It  has  been  wiitten  in  town  and  in  country,  amid  the  interrup- 
tions of  business  and  in  intervals  of  leisure — and ''''in  time  of 
war  and  tumults'^''  that  at  moments  made  its  subject,  and  all 
like  subjects,  seem  trivial  and  valueless. 

The  chapters  on  Spanish  printing  are  new — not  having 
been  part  of  the  series  of  lectures.  Outside  Spain,  little  attention 
has  been  paid  to  its  typography,  and  what  has  been  written  is 
devoted  chiefiy  to  the  period  of  the  incunabula.  From  1500  to 
1800  its  typographical  history  is,  to  the  general  student,  ''terra 
incognita'*'';  so  these  pages  may  give  some  information  not  here- 
tofore available  to  the  English  reader.  Other  chapters  dealing 
with  this  period —  especially  those  upon  French  and  English 
printing — have  been  amplified  and  virtually  rewritten  in  the 
light  of  new  material,  or  in  an  effort  to  improve  the  examples 


vi  PREFACE 

of  pniitiiig  selecttd — a  field  that  affords  endless  oppor-timity 
for  rei'ision. 

Mr.  Rudolph  Ruzicka  ofA'ew  York, Dr. Charles  L.  Nichols 
of  jrorcester,  and  Mr.  John  Bianchi  have  read  my  manuscript 
and  given  we  the  benefit  of  much  helpful  criticism.  I  am 
indebted  for  suggestions  and  corrections  in  certain  chapters  to 
Mr.  irUliam  Addison  Diuiggms,  Miss  Alice  Bache  Gould, 
Mr.  S.  Byington,  Mr.  Ansel  mo  Bianchi,  Miss  Ruth  S.  Gran- 
niss.  Librarian  of  the  Gwlier  Club,  Neiv  York,  and  Pmfessor 
E.  K.  Rand  of  Harvard  University.  To  Mr.  J.  TV.  Phinney, 
Mr.  H.  /v.  Bulleii,  and  to  many  other  friends  and  associates 
who  hai'e  aided  me  in  many  7vays^  I  am  most  grateful. 

The  chief  part  of  the  illustrative  material  has  been  taken 
from  books  in  Harvard  College  Library,  to  the  officials  of 
which  I  am  under  particular  obligation  for  the  assistance  and 
privileges  they  have  so  freely  given  me.  Illustrations  have  also 
been  reproduced  from  books  and  broadsides  in  the  Boston  Public 
Library  and  the  Boston  Athenxum;  the  John  Carter  Bwivn  Li- 
brary, Annmar-y  Brown  Memorial,  and  Public  Libr'ary,  Prvvi- 
dence;  tlie  American  Antiquarian  Society,  Worcester;  the  Li- 
Ijrary  of  Congress,  Washington ;  and  tlie  Tyfwgraphic  Library 
of  t lie  American  Type  Founders  Company,  Jersey  City.  I  have 
to  thank  the  officials  of  all  these  libraries  for  their  generous 
cooperation.  To  Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  I  am  indebted  for 
permission  to  reprvduce  pages  from  his  remarkable  Caxtons  and 
from  other  exceedingly  rare  Ijooks  in  his  library ;  and  to  Mr's. 
J.  Montgomery  Sears,  *Dr.  Charles  L.  Nichols,  Mr.  C.  E. 
Ixturiat,  Jr.,  and  Messrs.  Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  who 
have  placed  at  my  disposal  Ijooks  that  could  not  readily  be 


PREFACE  vii 

found  elsewhere.  More  detailed  acknowledgments  are  made  in 
the  list  of  illustrations.  Where  no  credit  is  given^  the  illustra- 
tions are  from  books  in  my  oxvn  collection. 

The  index  is  the  work  of  Mr.  George  B.  Ives.  In  some 
early  researches.,  Mr.  George  L.  Harding^  now  of  Tacoma, 
helped  me  effectively;  and  a  member  of  our  staffs  Mr.  W.  H. 
Smallfield.,  has  been  of  the  greatest  assistance  in  the  exact- 
ing task  of  seeing  the  work  through  the  press.  But  perhaps  the 
students  who  listened  to  the  lectures^  and  who^  by  their  interest 
and  questions^  encouraged — or  obliged — me  to  better  them.,  are 
those  whom  I  should  hold  in  most  grateful  remembrance ;  for 
they  have  most  suffered  for  the  truth^s  sake! 

D.  B.  Updike 

The  Merrymount  Press,  Boston 

May-day,  1922 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

VOLUME  I  p^^^ 

INTRODUCTION  xxvii 

I.  THE    INVENTION    OF    PRINTING:     THE     CUTTING    AND 

CASTING  OF  TYPES  IN  RELATION  TO  THEIR  DESIGN  3 

II.  A  FONT  OF  TYPE  AND   ITS   CASE:    THE   TYPOGRAPHICAL 

point:   POINT-SET  AND  LINING  TYPES  15 

III.  THE   LATIN   ALPHABET   AND    ITS    DEVELOPMENT   UP  TO 

THE  INVENTION  OF  PRINTING  38 

IV.  TYPES  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  IN  GERMANY  58 

V.  TYPES  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  IN  ITALY  70 

VI.  TYPES  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  IN  FRANCE  82 

VII.  TYPES  OF   THE   FIFTEENTH   CENTURY   IN    THE    NETHER- 
LANDS  HOLLAND  AND  BELGIUM  93 

VIII.  TYPES  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  IN  SPAIN  99 

IX.  TYPES  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  IN  ENGLAND  113 

X.  THE  ALDINE  ITALIC  125 

XI.  A  WORD  ON  TYPE  SPECIMENS  133 

Xn.  GERMAN  types:    1500-1800 

I.  EXAMPLES  OF   GERMAN  PRINTING  139 

§  1.  XVI  CENTURY  139 

§  2.   XVII  CENTURY  146 

§  3.    XVIII  CENTURY  147 

II,   GERMAN   FOUNDRIES  AND  SPECIMENS  149 


xii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

13.  Type  of  36-line  Bib/e,  Mainz^  not  later  than  1461  62 
From  Die  Buchkunst  Gutenbergs  und  Sch'Cffers 

14.  Type  of  42-Iine  Bib/e,  3Iainz,  c.  1455  '  62 
From  a  co/iy  in  the  Library  of  Mr.  J.  Pierfiont  Morgan,  jYew 

York- 
is.  Type  used  in  Latin  Psalter:  Fust  and  Schoeffer^  Mainz., 

1457  62 

From  Druckschrifteti  des  XV  bis  XVIII  Jahrhunderts 

16.  Advertisement  issued  by  Koberg-er.,  Nuremberg-^  c.  1480  64 
From  Facsimiles  from  Early  Printed  Books  in  the  British 
Museum 

17.  Round  Gothic  Type  of  Catholicon:  Gutenberg.,  Mainz 

1460  64 

From  a  copy  in  the  John  Carter  Brown  Library,  Providence, 
Rhode  Island 

18.  Type  prefiguring  Schwabacher.,  used  in  Hortus  Sanitatis: 
Peter  Schoeffer^  Mainz,  1485  64 

From  a  co/iy  in  the  library  of  Mrs.  J.  Montgomery  Sears, 
Boston 

19.  Pointed  Gothic  Type:  Baemler.,  Augsburg:,  1474  64 
From  Burger^ s  IMonumenla  (iermanix  et  Italiae  Typografihica 

20.  Gothic  Types  used  by  Koberger  at  Nuremberg  in  {a)  Bible 

o/'  1483;  {b)  Nuremberg  Chronicle  of  1493  66 

21.  Semi-Gothic  Type:  Mentelin.,  'S'trassburg.,  1460  66 
From  Burger's  Monumenta  GermaniR',  et  Italife  Typographica 

22.  First  Poman  Type  used  in  Germany:  Rusch.,  S'trassburg:, 

c.  1464  66 

23.  Transitional  Roman-Gothic  used  in  Ptolemy's  Cosmo- 
graphia:  Holle,  Ulm,  1482  66 
From  a  co/iy  in  (he  John  Carter  Brown  Library,  Providence 

24.  First  Type  used  in  Italy:  Shveynheym  and  Pannartz., 
S'ubiaco,  1465  72 

From  a  co/iy  of  Lactantius  of  1465  in  the  ylnnmary  Brmvn 
Memorial  Library,  I^oi'idence 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xiii 

25.  Second  Type  of  Szueyjiheym  and  Pamiartz^  Rome^  1467  72 

From  a  cofiy  of  S/ieculum  Hwnanse  Fitx  of  1468  in  the  Ann- 
mary  Brmvn  Memorial  Library,  Providence 

26.  John  and  Wendel'in  de  Spire's  Roman  Type^  Venice^  1469        72 

From  a  cofiy  of  De  Civitate  Dei  of  1470  iri  Harvard  College 
Library 

27.  JensorCs  Roman  Type  used  in  Eiisebius^  De  Praeparatione 
Evangelica^  Venice^  1470  74 

From,  a  copy  in  the  collection  of  Dr.  Charles  L.  JVichols,  Worces- 
ter, Massachusetts 

28.  Page  of  Hypnerotomachia  Poliphili:  Aldus^  Venice^  1499        76 

From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

29.  RatdoWs  Gothic  Type.,  from  his  Specimen  0/^1486  78 
From  Burger's  Monumenta  Germanise  et  Italiae  Typographica 

30.  RatdoWs  Roman  and  Greek  Type.,  from  his  Specimen  of 
1486  78 
From  Burger's  Monumenta  Germanix  et  Italise  Typographica 

31.  Part  of  a  page  of  Horace:  Miscomini.,  Florence.,  1482  80 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

32.  First  Roman  Type  used  in  France:  Freiburger.,  Gering., 

and  Kranz.,  Paris.,  1470  83 

From  a  copy  of  Phalaridis  Epistulae  in  the  Annmary  Brown 
Memorial  Library,  Providence 

33.  First  Gothic  Type  used  in  France:  Freiburger.,  Gering.,  and 
Kranz.,  Paris.,  1473  85 

From  a  copy  of  Manipulus  Curatorum  of  1473  in  the  Annmary 
Brown  Mejnorial  Library,  Providence 

34.  Type  used  for  first  Bible  printed  in  France:  Freiburger., 
Gering.,  and  Kranz.,  Paris.,  1476  86 

From  Claudin's  Histoire  de  P Imprimerie  en  France  au  XV*^  et 
an  XFP  SiMe 

35.  Roman  Type  used  in  Virgil  by  Gering.,  Paris.,  1478  86 

From  Claudin's  Histoire  de  f  Imprimerie  en  France  au  XV^  et 
au  AT/e  Steele 


xiv  ILLUSTRATIONS 

36.  Lettre  Batardc  used  infrst  book  printed  hi  French:  Bon- 
fiomme^  Paris^  c.  14-77  88 
/-Vo.-w  Ciaudin's  Histoire  de  P Imfiriynerie  en  France  an  XVe  el 

au  Xyi<=  Steele 

37.  CoJidensed  Gothic  Type  used  by  B'otticher,  Paris,  1481  88 
From  C/audin'a  Histoire  de  rim/irimerie  en  France  au  XV^  et 

au  XVF  SiMe 

38.  Page  from  Book  of  Hours  in  Transitional  style  88 

39.  First  Roman  Type  used  at  Lyons:  Du  Pr^,  1490  92 
From  Cloudings  Histoire  de  V Imfirimerie  en  France  au  XV^  et 

au  Xri"  SiMe 

40.  Two  pages  of  an  Abecedarium  94 
Frojn  Holrrofi's  Monuments  Tyfiographiques  des  Pays-Bas  au 
Quinzieme  Siecle 

41.  Gothic  Type  used  by  Printer  of  the  Speculum,  c.  1471  94 

From  a  vellum  leaf  of  Doctrinale  of  Alexander  Gallics  in  the 
Library  of  Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  JVhiv  York 

42.  Mansion's  Ajicienne  Batarde,  Bruges,  1484  96 
From  Druc/cschriften  des  XV  bis  XVIII  Jahrhunderts 

43.  Lettre  Batarde  used  by  Brito,  Bruges  98 

From  HoltrofCs  Monuments  Tyfiographiques  des  Pay-Bas  au 
Quinzieme  Siecle 

44.  Black-letter  used  by  Bellaert,  Haarlem,  1485  98 

From  a  cofiy  of  Bartholomseus  jinglicus,  Van  den  F^ofirieteyten 
der  Dinghen,  in  the  Library  of  Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  .Vcnv 
York 

45.  Fifteenth  Century  'Saint  Augustin  Flaniand:  Enschedt'''s 
Proef  van  Letteren^  Haarlem,  1768  98 

From  F.nschedc's  Fonderies  de  Caract^res  et  leur  Materiel  dans 
Ics  Pays-Bas  du  XV^  au  XIX«  Siecle 

4G.  Fifteenth  Century  Gros-Romain  Flamand :  Ensched(f\s 

Proef  van  Letteren,  Haarlem,  1768  98 

From  Ensc/udf's  Fonderies  de  Caract^res  et  leur  Materiel  dans 
U»  Paya-Bas  du  XVe  au  XIX^  SiMe 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xv 

47.  John  of  Westphalia  s  Roman  Type^  used  at  Louvain  98 

From  a  cofiy  of  /Eneas  Sylvius,  Efiistulx  Familiar es,  in  Har- 
vard College  Library 

48.  Fifteenth  Century  Roman  Type  attributed  to  Schoeffer  98 

From  Enschede's  Fonderiea  de  Caract^res  et  leur  Materiel  dans 
les  Pays-Bas  du  XFe  aii  XIX'^  Siecle 

49.  First  Roman  Type  used  in  Spain:  Palmart^  Valencia,  1475      105 

Fro?n  a  copy  of  Johannes,  Comprehensorium,  in  the  Library  of 
Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  J^few  York 

50.  Spindeler''s  Roman  Type,  Valencia,  1500  108 
From  Haebler's  Typographic  Iberique  du  Quinziime  Siicle 

51.  Fadrique  de  Basiled' s  Roman  Type,  Burgos,  1499  108 
From  Haebler's  T\/pografihie  Iberique  du  Quinzieme  Siecle 

52.  Roman  Type  used  by  Ungut  and  Stanislaus,  Seville,  n.d.       108 
From  Haebler^s  Typographic  Iberique  du  Quinzieme  Siecle 

53.  First  Gothic  Type  used  i?i  Spain:  Palmart,  Valencia,  1482      108 
From  Haeblcr^s  Typographic  Iberique  du  Quinzieme  Siecle 

54.  Brocars  Round  Gothic  Type,  Pamplona,  1499  108 
From  Hacbler's  Tyfiographie  Iberique  du  Quinzihne  Siecle 

55.  Gothic  Type  used  by  Pablo  Hunts,  Saragossa,  1496  110 
From  Haebler^s  Typographic  Iberique  du  Quinzieme  Siecle 

56.  Title-page  of  Gordonid' s  Lilio  de  Medicina:  Ungut  and 
Stanislaus,  Seville,  1495  110 
From  Haebler^s  Early  Jointers  of  Spain  and  Portugal 

57.  Title-page  of  Leyes  del  ^laderno,  Salamanca,  c.  1496  110 

From  a  cofiy  in  the  Annmary  Brcnvn  Memorial  Library,  Prox'i- 
dcnce 

58.  Title-page  of  Aureum  Opus:  Diego  de  Gumiel,  Valencia, 

1515  112 

From  a  copy  in  the  Boston  Public  Library 


:,vi  ILLUSTRATIONS 

59.  Caxtons  Type  1.  From  The  Recuyell  of  the  Historyes  of 
Troye:  Caxton  and  Mansion^  Bruges^  c.  1475  115 
/-Vow  a  co/iy  in  the  Library  of  Mr.  J.  Pierfiont  Morgan,  jYew 

York 

60.  Caxtons  Type  2.  From  The  Dictes  or  Sayengis  of  the 
Philosophres,  Westminster.,  14r77  116 

61.  Caxton's  Type  3.  Used  in  his  Handbill.,  Westminster., 

c.  U77  118 

J'Yom  Burger's  Buchhdndleranzeigen  des  15.  Jahrhunderts 

62.  Caxton's  Type  4.  Frorn  Godfrey  of  Boloyne.,  Westminster., 

1481  '  118 

Frotn  a  copy  in  the  Library  of  Mr.  J.  Pierpont  ^Morgan,  J^few 
York 

63.  Caxton'' s  Type  5.  From  The  Doctrinal  of  Sapience.,  West- 
minster, c.  \4&9  118 
From  a  copy  in  the  Library  of  Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  JVew 

York 

64.  Caxton'^s  Types  6  and^.  From  Tretyse  of  Love.,  Westmin- 
ster, c.  1493  118 
From  a  copy  in  the  Library  of  Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  A'civ 

York 

65.  Caxton' s  Type  7-  Used  in  Indulgence,  Westminster,  1489       118 
From  De  Kicci's  Census  of  Caxtons 

66.  Gothic  Types  used  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  Westminster, 

1499  121 

From  Gordon  Duff's  Early  English  Printing 

67.  Lettres  dc  Forme  used  by  Notary  and  Barbier,  Westmin- 
ster, 1498  122 
From  (iordon  Duff's  Early  English  fainting 

68.  Transitional  Gothic  Type  used  in  Andrere  Antonius, 
^upstiones  super  Duodedm  Libros  Metaphysicx  Aristo- 
telis:  Lettou,  London,  1480  122 

From  a  co/ty  in  the  Library  of  Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  J^ew 
York 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xvii 

69.  Lettre  Batarde  used  in  The  Fall  of  Princes:  Pynson^  Lon- 
don, c.  1494  124 

From  a  cofiy  in  the  Library  of  Mr.  J.  Pierfiont  Morgan,  JVew 
York 

70.  Lettre  de  Forme  used  by  Pynson,  London,  c.  1495  124 
From  Gordon  Duff\<i  Early  English  Printing 

71.  Greei  Lype  used  in  Philostratus :  Aldus,  Venice,  1501  128 

72.  Aldine  Italic  as  used  in  Juvenal  and  Persius:  Aldus, 

Venice,  1501  128 

From  a  cofiy  in  the  John  Carter  Brown  Library,  Providence 

73.  Type  used  in  Diurnale :  Sch'dnsperger,  Nuremberg;  1514        139 
From  Druckschriften  des  XV  bis  XVIII  Jahrhunderts 

74.  Type  used  in  Teuerdanck:  Schonsperger,  Nuremberg,  1517      140 
From  a  copy  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  Washington 

75.  Title-page  of  Fundamentbuch:  Jobin,  Strassburg,  1579  142 
From  Druckschriften  des  XV  bis  XVIII  Jahrhunderts 

76.  {a)  Alphabet  of  Fifteenth  Century  Fraktur  used  by  Neu- 
meister,  Mainz,  1479.  {b)  Alphabet  of  Sixteenth  Century 
Fraktur  used  by  Feyerabend,  Frankfort,  1566  142 
From  Druckschriften  des  XV  bis  XVIII  Jahrhunderts 

77.  Cursive  and  Schwabacher  used  by  Froschauer,  Zurich.^ 

1567  142 

From  Druckschriften  des  XV  bis  XVIII  Jahrhunderts 

78.  Types  used  by  Hentzsken,  Berlin,  1578  142 
From  Druckschriften  des  XV  bis  XVIII  Jahrhunderts 

79.  Roman  Type  used  in  De  Unitate  Ecclesise  Conservanda: 
Schoeffer,  Mainz,  1520  142 
From  a  cofiy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

80.  Roman  Type  in  Erasmus'' s  Adagia:  Froben,  Basle,  1526        144 

From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

81.  Italic  in  Erasmuses  New  Testament:  Froben,  Basle,  1521       144 

From  a  cofiy  in  Harvard  College  Library 


xviii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

82.  Specimen  of  J.  Petri,  Basle,  1525  146 
From  facsimile  issued  by  K.  Burger 

83.  Title-fiag-e  of  K/ofistocJd's  Messias:  Halle,  1749  148 
J-'rom  KoTinecke's  Bilderatlas  zur  Geschichte  der  deutschen 
.VationaUiteratur 

84.  Title-page  of  Winckelmaivi' s  Kiinst  des  Alterthums: 
Dresden,  1764  148 
From  Konnecke's  Bilderatlas  zur  Geschichte  der  deutschen 
.VationaUiteratur 

85.  Pages  of  Jacohi" s  Iris,  Diisseldorf  1775  148 
From  Konnecke's  Bilderatlas  zur  Geschichte  der  deutschen 

.^  ationalliteratur 

86.  Title-page  of  first  edition  of  Faust:  Goschen,  Leipsic, 

1790  150 

From  Goschen'' s  Life  of  George  Joachim  Goschen 

87.  Title-page  of  Wilhelm  Meister:  Unger,  Berlin,  1795  150 

From  Konnecke's  Bilderatlas  zur  Geschichte  der  deutschen 
.Yationalliteratur 

88.  Fraktur,  Schxvabacher,  and  Cursive,  as  shown  by  Four- 

nier  le  jeune  150 

89.  Title-page  of  Pater'' s  Dissertatio,  Leipsic,  1710  152 
From  a  co/iy  in  the  Providence  Fhiblic  Library 

90.  Types  from  Pater's  Dissertatio,  Leipsic,  1710  152 
From  a  cofiy  in  the  Providence  I*ublic  Library 

'Jl.  Fraktur  and  Schxvabacher  Types:  Pater'* s  Dissertatio, 

Leipsic,  1710  152 

From  a  co/iy  in  the  Providence  Ihiblic  Library 

92.  Typographical  Ornaments,  probably  from  the  Endters 
Printing-house,  Nuremberg,  1721  154 
From  Frnesti^s  Die  Wol-eingerichtete  Buchdruckerey 

93.  Fraktur  Types  from  Breitkopfs  Schrift- Probe,  Leipsic, 

1739  156 

From  Grnnncr'a  Buchdruckerkunst  und  Schriftgiesaerey 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xix 

94.  Roman  and  Italic  Types:  Breitkopfs  Schrift- Probe ^ 
Leipsic^  1739  156 
From  Gessner'a  Buchdruckerkunst  unci  Schriftgiesaerey 

95.  Schwabacher  and  Fraktiir :  Trattner\'i  Abdruck  dererjeni- 

gen  Deuischen  iSchriften^  etc.^  Vienna^  1760  158 

From  a  copy  in  the  Library  of  the  American  Type  Founders 
Company,  Jersey  City,  JVetv  Jersey 

96.  Ornaments:  Trattner^s  Abdruck  von  denjenigen  Roslein^ 

etc.^  Vzentia^  1760  158 

From  a  copy  in  the  Library  of  the  American  Type  Founders 
Company,  Jersey  City 

97.  (a)  Neue  Deutsche  Lettern  and  {b)  Ornaments :  Ung-er\s 
Schriftproben^  Berlin^  c.  1791  158 

98.  UiJger's  and  Didot's  Modifications  of  German  Fraktur^ 

1793  158 

From  Enschede^s  Fonderies  de  Caractires  et  leur  Materiel  dans 
les  Pays-Bas  du  XV^  au  XIX''  SiMe 

99.  Page  of  Ovid:  Gorgonzola^  Milan^  1509  160 

100.  Gothic  Type  in  Opera  of  Boethius:  Giunta,  Venice^  1536       161 
Fj'o?n  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

101.  Italic  in  Dante'' s  Commedia:  Marcolini^  Venice,  1544  162 
FroJH  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

102.  Opening  of  Paolo  Giovio^s  Historiarum  sui  Temporis: 
Torrentino^  Florence^  1550  162 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

103.  Types  of  FasarVs  Fife:  Torrentino,  Florence,  1550  162 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

104.  Italic  in  Nogarola''s  Dialogus:  Gryphius,  Venice,  1552       162 

105.  Types  in  Dante:  Sessa,  Venice,  1564  164 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

106.  Page  from  Decamerone:  Giunta,  Florence,  1573  164 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 


XX  ILLUSTRATIONS 

107.  Italic  in  Nanninfs  Considerationi  Civili,  Venice^  1582        164 
From  a  co/iy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

108.  Roman  Tijpes  of  Morosini's  Historia  Veneta:  Pinelli^ 
renter,  1623  166 
From  a  copy  in  Nan>ard  College  Library 

109.  Address  to  the  Reader:  Stamperia  Faticana  Indtce  de 
Caratteri,  Rome,  1628  168 
From  a  cofiy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

110.  Canon  Grosso:  Stamperia  Vaticana  Indice,  Rome^ 

1628  168 

From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

111.  Ascendonica:  Stamperia  Vaticana  Indice^  Rome^  1628  168 
Fro7n  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

112.  Corsivo  Grosso:  Stamperia  Vaticana  Indice^  Rome^ 

1628  168 

FYotn  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

113.  Roman  Capitals:  Stamperia  Vaticana  Indice^  Rome, 

1628  168 

From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  lAbrary 

114.  Alphabet  of  Greek  Capitals:  Stamperia  Vaticana  Indice^ 
Rome,  1628  168 
From  a  copy  in  Har-vard  College  Library 

115.  Plain-Son^:  Stamperia  Vaticana  Indice^  Rome^  1628  168 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

116.  Plain-Song-:  Stamperia  Vaticana  Indice,  Rome,  1628  168 
From  a  copy  in  Harx'urd  College  Library 

117.  Type  used  for  Missals:  Stamperia  Vaticana  Indice, 

Rome,  1628  168 

From  a  copy  in  Har-i'ard  College  Library 

118.  Page  from  La  Clori:  Pignoni,  Florence,  1626  168 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xxi 

119.  Roman  and  Italic  Types  shormng  '"''modern''''  tendency^ 
used  in  MagalottVs  Soggi  di  Naturali  Esperieiize^  etc. : 
Cecchi^  Florence^  1691  170 

120.  Type  imitating  ancient  Manuscript^  used  in  Virgil: 
Manni^  Florence,  1741  172 
From  a  cofiy  in  the  Boston  Public  Library 

121.  Types  of  Arrighi\s  Life  of  Moros'ini:  Comino,  Padua, 

1749  172 

From  a  cofiy  in  HaTvard  College  Library 

122.  Page  showing  light  types,  openly  set,  in  Versi  Sciolti 

di  Tre  Eccellenti  Moderni  Autori:  Fenzo,  Venice,  1758         174 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

123.  Italic  in  Dedication  of  Gerusalemme  Liberata:  Albrizzi, 
Venice,  1745  174 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

124.  Page  of  Gerusalemme  Liberata:  Albrizzi,  Venice,  1745       174 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

125.  Pages  from  Gerusalemme  Liberata:  Zatta,  Venice,  1787       176 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

126.  Types  showing  '"'' modern''''  feeling,  used  in  SardinVs 
Stor'ia  Critica  di  Nicolao  Jenson:  Bonsigfiori,  Lucca., 

c.  1796  178 

127.  Types  showing  '''' modern''''  feeling,  used  in  PoggialVs 
Storia  Lettereir'ia  di  P'lacenza:  Orcesi,  Piacenza,  1789  178 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

128.  Testo  and  Palestina  from  BodonVs  Fregi  e  Majuscole, 
Parma,  1771  185 

129.  Ornaments  from  BodonVs  Fregi  e  Majuscole,  Parma, 

1771  186 

130.  {a)  Ornamented  Letters,  (b)  Initials.  From  BodonVs 

Fregi  e  Majuscole,  Parma,  1771  186 


xxii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

131.  (a)  Page  from  Sag-gio  T'lpograjicQ.  {b)  Reverse  of  half- 
title  of  Fregi.  From  BodonVs  Fregi  e  Majuscole^  Parma, 

1771  186 

132.  Ti//)fs  from  Zatta's  Saggi  dei  Caratteri,  Venice,  1794  186 

133.  'Wot/ern"'  Types  from  Zatta's  S'uggi  dei  Caratteri, 

Venice,  1794  186 

134.  Borders  from  Zattd^s  Saggi  dei  Caratteri,  Venice,  1794       186 

135.  Lettres  de  Forme,  Lettres  de  Sotyime,  and  Ancienne  Ba- 
tarde,  shown  bij  Fournier  lejeune  188 

136.  Portion  of  page  from  Torifs  Champfeury :  Paris,  1529        194 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

137.  Music  Types  combined  xvith  Lettre  de  Forme,  used  by 
Attaingnant,  Paris,  1532  196 
From  a  copy  in  the  Boston  Mhenaeum 

138.  Roman  of  RueVs  De  Natura  Stirpium:  De  Colines, 

Paris,  1536  198 

From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

139.  Italic  of  Preface  of  RueVs  De  Natura  Stirpium:  De  Co- 
lines,  Paris,  1536  198 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

140.  Page  of  Songe  de  Poliphile:  Kerver,  Paris,  1546  200 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

141.  Types  used  in  Oronce  Fine''s  De  Rebus  Mathematicis : 
Vascosan,  Paris,  1556  200 
From  a  cofiy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

142.  Granjon''s  Civility,  used  in  Sommaire  des  Singularitez  de 
Pline:  Breton,  Paris,  1559  202 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

143.  Old  Civility  from  Lamesle*s  Epreuves  GM^rales  des  Car- 
acteres,  Paris;  1742  202 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xxiii 

144.  Roman  of  Cousiii's  Livre  de  Perspective:  Le  Royer^ 

Paris  ^  1560  202 

From  a  cofiy  in  the  Boston  Public  Library 

145.  Italic  in  Cousin'' s  Livre  de  Perspective:  Le  Royer^  Paris^ 
1560  202 

From  a  cofiy  in  the  Boston  Public  Library 

146.  Robert  Granjon's  Italic  used  in  La  Vita  et  Metamorfo- 

seo  d''Ovidio:  De  Tournes^  Lyons^  1584  204 

147.  Moreau's  Calligraphic  Types  used  in  Les  Saintes  Meta- 
morphoses^ Paris^  1644  208 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

148.  Old  Italics  from  Sanlecque''s  Epreuves  des  Caracteres^ 
Paris  ^  1757  213 

149.  Seventeenth  Century  Types  for  Liturgical  Books^from 
Sanlecque\'i  Epreuves  des  Caracteres^  Paris ^  1757  214 

150.  Old  Music  Types  from  Sanlecque''s  Epreuves  des  Carac- 
teres^  Paris ^  1757  214 

151.  Seventeenth  Century  Ornaments  from  Lamesle^s  Epreuves 
G^ne'rales  des  Caracte res ^  Paris ^  1742  214 

152.  Early  Types  {oeil  maigre):  Delacolonge' s  Caracteres  et 
Vignettes^  Lyons ^  1773  214 

153.  Early  Types  {peil  gras):  Delacolonge' s  Caracteres  et 
Vignettes^  Lyons ^177^  214 

154.  Old  Style  Types  used  in  De  La  Motte''s  Fables  Nouvelles: 
Coignard^  Paris^  1719  220 
From  a  co/iy  in  the  Boston  Athenseum. 

155.  Fournier  le  jeune''s  Types  used  in  CEuvres  de  Jean-Bap- 

tiste  Rousseau:  Didot^  Paris^  1743  222 

From  a  cofiy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

156.  Fournier  le  jeune''s  Types  and  Ornaments  used  in  Col- 
lection des  Auteurs  Latines:  Barbou^  Paris^  1759  222 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 


xxiv  ILLUSTRATIONS 

157.  Founiierlejeiines  Music  Types  used  in  A/ithologie  Fraii- 

coise  ou  Chcnisons  Choisies:  Barbou^  Paris^  1765  224 

From  a  co/iy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

158.  Roman  in  •Sciint  Lambert's  Saisons^  Paris,  1775  226 

159.  Jta/ic  in  Saint  Lamberfs  Saisons,  Paris,  1775  226 

160.  Roman  Types  used  in  Gc'orgiques  de  Firgile:  Didot 

raini\  Paris,  1782  226 

From  a  cofiy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

161.  Page  employing  Firmin  Didofs  Italic  Type,  from  Didof  s 
Epitre  sur  les  Progrcs  de  V Imprimerie,  printed  by  F.  A. 
Didot,  Paris,  1784  226 

162.  Types  used  by  F.  A.  Didot  i?i  Prospectus  of  Peintures 
Antiques,  Paris,  1782  228 

163.  Caractere  Maigre  used  in  CEuvres  de  FMelon:  F.  A.  and 

P.  Didot,  Paris,  1787-92  228 

From  a  cofiy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

164.  Caractere  Gras  used  in  Aventures  de  TeUmaque:  Pierre 
Franqois  Didot,  Paris,  1787  228 
From  a  cofiy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

165.  Baskerville's  Types  used  in  Voltaire'' s  La  Pucelle^  Kehl, 

1789  230 

166.  Types  of  folio  Horace:  Pierre  Didot,  Paris,  1799  232 

167.  Page  of  folio  Horace:  Pierre  Didot,  Paris,  1799  232 

168.  Garafnond\s-  Caracteres  de  P University,  c.  1540,  used 
in  Richelieu's  Les  Principaux  Poinds  de  la  Foy  Catho- 

lique  Dtfendus:  Imprimerie  Royale,  Paris,  1642  236 

169.  Roman  Type  (Garamond?)  used  in  Giovio''s  Vitx: 
Rstienne,  Paris,  1549  236 
From  a  copy  in  Harvard  College  Library 

170.  Garamond\s  Grecs  du  Roi  {three  sizes)  used  in  Greek  edi- 
tion of  Appiani  Alexandrini  Romanarum  Historianim: 
Fstienru;  Paris,  1551  238 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xxv 

171.  Page  of  Grec  du  Roi  from  Greek  edition  of  Appiani  Alex- 
andrini  Romanarum  Histor'mrum:  Estien)u\  Paris.,  1551       238 

172.  Garam07id''s  Roman  arid  Italic  Types  used  in  Richelieu'' s 
Les  Principaux  Poincts  de  la  Foy  Catholique  Difendus: 
[mprimerie  Royale^  Paris^  1642  240 

173.  GrandjearC s  Romain  du  Roi  used  in  Medailles  sitr  les 
Principaux  Evdnements  du  Regne  de  Louis  le  Grand: 
hnpnmerie  Royale^  Paris ^  1702  242 
From  a  copy  in  the  Boston  Athenxum 

174-.  Grandjean^s  Romain  du  Roi  (italic)  used  in  Cuivres  de 
Cochin  destines  a  VHistoire  de  Louis  j^V par  Mddailles: 
Imprimerie  Nationale^  Paris.,  1889  244 

175.  Luce's  Types  PoHiques  compared  tvith  Old  Style  Types 

of  Imprimerie  Roy  ale  244 

From  Luce's  Fssai  d'une  JVowvelle  Typografihic,  Paris,  1771 

176.  Luce'' s  Types  Po^ti<jues  {romaii  and  txuo  versions  of  italic)      246 
Frotn  Fssai  d'ujie  JVouvelle  Tyfiografihie,  Paris,  1771 

177.  Luce^s  Ornaments  246 
From  Fssai  d'une  JVouvelle  Tyfiographie,  Paris,  1771 

178.  Luce's  Employment  of  his  Types  and  Ornaments  246 
Page  from  Fssai  d'une  JVouvelle  Tyfiografihie,  Paris,  1771 

179.  Page  of  Cours  de  principaux  Fleuves  et  Rivieres  de  P  Eu- 
rope, composed  arid  printed  by  Louis  XV  zvhen  a  Child: 
Paris,  1718  248 

180.  Title-page  of  Fournier  le  jeune''s  Modeles  des  CaractereSy 
Paris,  1742  252 

181.  Roman  and  Italic  from  Fournier  lejeune''s  Modeles  des 
Caracteres,  Paris,  1742  252 

182.  Use  of  Typographical  Ornaments  in  Fourn'ier  le  jeune''s 
Modeles  des  Caracteres,  Paris,  1742  252 


xxvi  ILLUSTRATIONS 

183.  Fournier  le  jeunes  Types  PoHiques  (cic^ro^  roman  and 
italic)  263 
From  Manuel  Tyfio^afihique 

184.  Fournier  le  Jeune^s  Types  dans  le  gout  Hollandois 

(cict'ro^  roman  and  italic)  264 

From  Manuel  Tyliografihique 

185.  (a)  Fournier  lejeune's  Italique  modeme  and  Italique  an- 
cienne.  {b)  Fournier  s  Shaded  Letters  264 
From  Manuel  Tyliographique 

186.  Fournier  lejeune's  Ornam.ental  Capitals  used  in  Desor- 
meaux's  Histoire  de  Louis  11^  Prince  de  Condd:  Lottin^ 
Paris,  1768  264 

187.  Fournier  le  jennets  Vignettes  de  Fonte  264 
From  Manuel  Tyfiografihique 

188.  Batarde  Types  shoxun  by  Fournier  266 
From  Manuel  Typographique 

189.  Financiere:  Delacolonge' s  Caracteres  et  Vignettes^ 

Lyons,  177  S  268 

190.  Method  of  Displaying  Ornaments:  Briquet'' s  Epreuve 

des  Caracteres,  Paris,  1757  270 

191.  Franqois  Candors  Italique,  goilt  nouveau,  cut  in  1754: 
Epreuves  des  Caracteres,  Gando,  Paris,  1760  272 

192.  Title-page  of  Caracteres  de  V Imprimerie  de  M.  Pierres, 
Paris,  1785  274 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  supply  a  basis  for 
the  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  best  printing 
types  through  the  study  of  their  history,  forms, 
and  use.  As  a  preliminary  we  consider  briefly  the  invention 
of  printing,  the  cutting  and  casting  of  type,  a  font  of  type 
and  its  case,  the  measurement  of  type ;  supplementing  this 
by  a  short  account  of  the  Latin  alphabet  and  those  manu- 
script book-hands  which  most  influenced  type-forms.  This 
brings  us  to  a  study  of  the  chief  varieties  of  type  in  use  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  and  from  1500  to  1800,  in  Germany, 
Italy,  France,  the  Netherlands,  Spain,  and  England.  Com- 
ing to  the  nineteenth  century,  the  types  of  Bodoni,  Didot, 
and  Wilson  are  discussed;  the  English  and  American  re- 
vival of  older  type-forms,  and  the  influence  of  this  revival  on 
printing  at  the  present  time.  We  now  have  a  foundation 
for  a  reasoned  judgment  of  type-design,  and  the  practical 
application  of  this  judgment  is  developed  in  suggestions 
as  to  the  choice  of  types  for  a  composing-room.  Finally, 
some  of  the  excuses  made  for  not  printing  better  to-day  are 
—  it  is  hoped — demolished  in  a  paper  on  industrial  condi- 
tions in  the  past. 

It  is  a  good  thing  to  know  about  the  ingredients  of  an- 
cient and  modern  type-metal;  about  the  old  manner  of  mak- 
ing types,  and  to  what  degree  their  manufacture  has  been 
improved;  about  the  names  and  relative  proportions  of  early 
types  and  the  development  of  the  system  of  nomenclature 
and  measurement  in  use  to-day.  But  it  is  also  needful  to 
have  a  knowledge  of  the  effect  of  types  on  the  eye — of  how 
their  shapes  originated,  were  elaborated  or  simplified,  were 
improved  or  deformed,  why  these  changes  were  made, 
and,  in  short,  the  reason  for  types  being  in  the  forms  that 


xxviii  INTRODUCTION 

thev  now  are.  Bv  the  time  these  pages  have  been  read,  and 
the  books  alhided  to  have  been  examined,  one  should  be 
able  to  distinguish  the  various  great  type-families  from  one 
another,  with  the  ease  with  \\hich  we  recognize  English, 
French,  or  Italian,  when  printed;  and  to  choose  intelligendy 
the  form  of  letter  which,  allo\\'ing  for  diversity  in  taste,  is 
the  most  suitable  to  employ  in  any  particular  kind  of  print- 
ing; and  should  have,  too,  some  knowledge  of  the  skill  and 
learning  which,  in  successive  centuries,  men  have  devoted 
to  this  subject  —  a  conception  of  how  much  there  is  to 
know,  and  an  idea  of  how  to  know  it. 

The  subject  of  type  and  type-forms  follows  a  narrow 
path,  a  kind  of  "watershed"  between  biography  and  bibli- 
ographv.  I  have  not  attempted  to  supply  lives  of  printers 
or  tvpe-founders  in  any  complete  way,  but  merely  to  touch 
on  those  points  in  their  careers  which  throw  light  on  their 
types,  and  explain  in  part  why  they  were  what  they  were. 
This  is  equally  true  of  books,  which  I  do  not  try  to  describe 
bibliographically,  but  allude  to  only  in  so  far  as  the  types 
which  were  used  to  print  them,  or  the  manner  of  their  use, 
illustrates  my  point.  For,  as  Reed  says  of  English  types, 
"the  Catena  on  Joh^  Walton's  Polyglot,  Boyle's  Irish  Tes- 
tament, Bowyer's  Selden,  rank  as  type  specimens  quite  as 
interesting  as,  and  far  more  valuable  than,  the  ordinary 
letter-founders'  catalogues." 

While  access  to  all  the  books  that  I  have  mentioned  will 
not  I)e  possible  to  all  readers,  most  of  them  will  be  found  in 
any  great  library.  Only  by  having  the  books  in  one's  hands 
and  examining  their  types  can  a  thorough  training  be  ac- 
cjuired;  for  my  illustrations,  numerous  as  they  are,  merely 
show  landmarks  in  the  field  under  discussion.  I  have  gen- 
erally reproduced  types  in  their  actual  size,  composed  in 
sentences,  their  exposition  in  alphabets  and  description  of 


INTRODUCTION  xxix 

minute  changes  in  letter-forms  being  intentionally  avoided. 
Interesting  as  successive  variations  in  the  design  of  indi- 
vidual letters  may  be,  it  is  the  eft'ect  of  these  variations  upon 
type  in  mass  that  is  important  for  my  purpose. 

I  have  treated  the  technical  side  of  my  subject  as  briefly 
as  is  consistent  with  giving  a  clear  idea  of  what  is  described. 
The  historical,  literary,  and  artistic  aspect  I  have  accented, 
in  order  to  suggest  to  the  student  that  immense  mass  of  facts 
related  to  typography,  without  some  knowledge  of  which 
it  can  only  be  imperfectly  understood — and  to  serve  as  a 
counterweight  to  the  vast  amount  of  technical  instruction 
and  mechanical  description  given  in  most  treatises  on  type 
and  printing."!  prefer  no  claim  to  originality,"  said  William 
Blades  in  one  of  his  treatises, "but  rather  rest  the  utility  of 
what  I  have  to  say,  upon  the  advantage  of  bringing  to  one 
focus  a  number  of  facts  hitherto  scattered  through  a  num- 
ber of  books,  and  by  consequence  but  partially  known." 
That  is  what  I  have  tried  to  do  in  these  pages. 

In  spite  of  the  increasing  interest  in  the  history  of  print- 
ing, and  the  attention  paid  in  many  quarters  to  the  work  of 
famous  typographers,  a  knowledge  of  standards  among  the 
rank  and  file  of  printers  is  still  greatly  lacking.  To  the  aver- 
age printer  of  to-day,  type  is  type,  printing  is  printing — it  is 
all  about  alike ;  and  he  concerns  himself  only  with  alleged 
labour-saving  contrivances,  or  new  type-faces  that  ensure 
convenience  at  the  expense  of  proper  design.  In  a  more 
advanced  class  is  to  be  found  the  printer  who,  knowing 
something  of  the  historical  side  of  printing  and  realizing 
intellectually  that  there  is  a  standard  of  excellence,  yet  has 
never  considered  the  question  as  applying  in  any  practical 
way  to  himself  or  his  work.  What  he  has  heard  or  seen  of 
people  who  profess  to  hold  such  standards  seems  to  him, 


XXX  INTRODUCTION 

sometimes  very  rightly,  faddish  and  impractical;  and  this 
helps  him  to  dismiss  the  subject  with  a  plausible  gener- 
alization on  the  impossibility  of  doing  successfully  to-day 
what  (for  unexplained  reasons)  was  somehow  easy  in  the 
past.  Lastly,  there  are  printers  who  are  seriously  in  earn- 
est, but  w  ho  permit  themselves  to  be  discouraged  by  the 
indifference  of  their  fellows,  or  who  with  their  idealism  do 
not  combine  that  uncommon  thing — common-sense.  It  is 
precisely  because  all  these  groups  of  men  are  constantly  told, 
and  ^\  ill  no  doubt  constantly  continue  to  be  told,  so  much 
about  the  advantages  of  modern  mechanical  contrivances, 
that  I  lav  stress  upon  the  artistic  and  idealistic  side  of  the 
subject  in  an  endeavour  to  show  that  the  best  printing  can 
be  done  only  when  a  man  is  familiar  with  standards  to 
which  the  best  printers  have  always  adhered. 

Tvpographv  is  closely  allied  to  the  fine  arts,  and  types 
have  alwavs  reflected  the  taste  or  feeling  of  their  time.  The 
charm  of  the  early  Italian  t^-pes  has  perhaps  never  been 
equalled;  and  the  like  is  true  of  the  Renaissance  manu- 
scripts on  which  they  were  based — and  of  many  other  de- 
partments of  art  in  that  same  wonderful  time.  Note,  too,  the 
relation  of  the  French  manuscripts  and  tvpes  of  a  slightly 
later  date  to  the  manuscripts  and  the  types  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance.  It  is  very  much  the  relation  of  French  work 
in  the  fine  arts  of  that  period  to  Italian  work  of  a  little 
earlier  date.  There  is  about  the  French  characters,  as  in 
design,  a  certain  excess  of  elegance  \\hich  makes  them  seem 
weak  in  comparison  with  the  more  sturdy  and  classical 
qualities  of  earlier  Italian  types.  If  this  is  at  all  true  of  French 
and  Italian  types,  it  is  even  truer  of  English  types  used  in 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  those  used  at 
the  end  of  it.  The  mid-eighteenth  century  English  types,  of 
w  hich  Caslon  u  as  the  designer,  had  precisely  those  honest, 


INTRODUCTION  xxxi 

somewhat  heavy,  but  workmanlike  qualities  exhibited  in 
the  early  furniture  of  Chippendale  and  the  architecture  of 
Vanbrugh.  The  types  of  Baskerville  (the  influence  of  which 
subsequently  found  expression  in  the  work  of  Bodoni  and 
Didot)  possess  a  fragile  and  affected  elegance,  which  culmi- 
nated in  the  light,  clear,  delicate  characters  used  from  1780 
to  1820  —  types  reflecting,  in  their  elegance,  thinness,  and 
weakness,  the  distinguished  but  fragile  decorations  and  fur- 
niture introduced  into  England  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century  by  Robert  Adam.  For  the  same  reason  that  one 
fears  to  use  Adam  furniture,  one  is  afraid  to  use  late  eigh- 
teenth century  fonts ;  for  both  seem  in  danger  of  breaking 
to  pieces!  Within  the  recollection  of  some  of  us,  heavier 
types  were  revived  by  Mr.  William  Morris,  and  they  were 
nearly  contemporaneous  with  furniture  forms  rendered  in 
lumber  —  "Mission"  furniture,  so  "sincere"  in  trying  to  es- 
cape the  imputation  of  fragility  that  it  made  "spring  house- 
cleaning  an  affair  of  the  derrick  and  the  wrecking-crane ! " 
The  latest  development  in  architecture  seems  to  be  a  revival 
of  Georgian  or  early  American  architecture  and  ornament, 
and  a  movement  toward  what  is  somewhat  absurdly  called, 
nowadays,  "period"  decoration.  This  is  reflected  in  printing 
by  a  return  to  the  Georgian  or  early  nineteenth  century 
types  for  the  greater  part  of  contemporary  printing,  and  the 
appearance  of  "period"  types — reproductions  more  or  less 
accurate  of  styles  of  type  famous  at  different  epochs.  Thus 
type,  which  one  thinks  of  merely  as  the  characters  compos- 
ing a  printed  word,  does,  when  examined  as  design,  reffect 
to  some  degree  the  tendencies  current  in  other  departments 
of  contemporary  art. 

Just  as  the  music  of  great  masters  like  Palestrina  makes 
some  familiar  compositions  seem  thin  and  trivial,  so,  by 


xxxii  INTRODUCTION 

studying  the  monumental  characters  of  early  typography, 
do  we  learn  to  place  in  true  perspective  our  types  to-day. 
This  means  the  study  of  types  from  a  fresh  point  of  view, 
and  no  study  is  ever  a  wholly  amusing  process  if  it  is  to  be 
a  serious  training.  Those  who  seek  ivill  find;  but  to  the 
reader  skeptical  of  results  and  critical  of  the  value  of  any 
detailed  consideration  of  type-forms,  such  a  survey  will 
seem  either  beside  the  mark  or  destructive.  None  the  less, 
such  studv  is  the  only  way  I  know  to  establish  a  stand- 
ard of  taste  in  type-forms,  or  to  contribute  to  the  progress 
of  printing  as  an  art.  For  "  the  Arts  have  no  real  enemies 
except  the  ignorant." 


PRINTING  TYPES 
THEIR  HISTORY,  FORMS,  AND  USE 


PRINTING  TYPES 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  INVENTION  OF  PRINTING:  THE  CUTTING  AND 
CASTING  OF  TYPES   IN  RELATION  TO  THEIR  DESIGN 

THE  invention  of  movable  metal  types  in  Europe, 
as  we  all  know,  has  been  generally  attributed  to 
Gutenberg  —  just  as  the  invention  of  the  steam- 
enginehas  popularlybeen  considered  that  of  Watt.  But  Watt 
did  not  invent  the  steam-engine;  he  perfected  it,  however, 
so  highl}'  as  to  make  it  almost  a  new  invenUon.  This  is,  I 
conceive,  what  Gutenberg  did  for  printing;  he  was  the  first 
man  to  put  typography  on  a  practical  and  scientific  basis. 
Before  his  day,  printing  from  movable  types  was  practised 
by  the  Dutch,  and  there  is,  perhaps,  reason  to  believe  that 
a  man  named  Coster  was  the  inventor  of  this  process. 
Whether  or  no  Coster  was  the  first  man  to  employ  movable 
types,  there  certainly  existed  in  Holland  before  Gutenberg's 
time,  a  series  of  books  of  primitive  workmanship  printed 
from  type,  and  the  roughness  of  the  typography  of  some 
later  printers — like  Caxton — is  considered  one  proof  that  a 
group  of  men  were  under  the  influence  of  this  Dutch  school 
of  printing.  It  has  always  puzzled  the  casual  student  of  ?';?- 
cimabula  to  account  for  the  perfection  of  the  books  printed 
by  Gutenberg;  but  if  it  be  true  that  Gutenberg  did  not  ori- 
ginate printing  from  movable  types,  but  simply  greatly  im- 
proved the  whole  practice  of  making  them,  then  we  can  see 
that  the  early  and  crude  typography  of  Holland  was  merely 
the  sub-structure  on  which  Gutenberg  so  splendidly  built. 
As  William  Blades  said  of  the  Coster-Gutenberg  contro- 
versy, "  The  evidence  on  each  side  may  be  enlarged  in  the 
course  of  years,  but  so  far  as  it  goes  at  present  it  is  strongly 


4  PRINTING  TYPES 

in  favour  of  a  first  rude  invention  of  movable  types  in  Hol- 
land bv  some  one  who  may  have  been  Coster.  The  claim  of 
Gutenberg  ujjon  the  respect  of  posterity  rests  on  his  great 
impro\  ements  —  so  great  as  to  entitle  him  in  a  sense  to  be 
deemed  the  inventor.'  .  .  .  Just  as  astronomers  ha\e  been 
unable  to  explain  certain  aberrations  of  the  planets  without 
surmising  a  missing  link  in  the  chain  of  their  knowledge, 
so  is  it  w  ith  early  typography.  That  such  finished  works 
as  the  first  editions  of  the  Bible  and  Psalter  could  be  the 
legitimate  predecessors  of  the  Costeriana,  the  Bruges,  the 
Westminster  press,  and  others,  I  cannot  reconcile  w^ith  the 
internal  e\  idence  of  their  ^^•orkmanship.  But  admit  the  ex- 
istence of  an  earlier  and  much  ruder  school  of  typography, 
and  all  is  plain  and  harmonious.  Side  by  side,  the  weakest 
gave  place  and  the  fittest  survived,  and  soon,  as  in  all  sur- 
vivals, the  existence  of  the  former  became  traditionary."' 
Endless  discussions  have  arisen  on  this  question,  which  has 
a  whole  literature  to  itself.  Roughly  speaking,  the  situation 
to-day  stands  much  as  it  did  in  Blades's  time.  Later  dis- 
coveries of  early  printing  have  been  made,  some  new  his- 
torical facts  have  come  to  light ;  but  these  have  not  much 
changed  the  theory  that  although  there  was  an  earlier  Dutch 
school  of  unskilful  printing,  it  W'as  in  Germany  that  print- 
ing as  we  know  it  to-day  was  first  practised.^ "  We  may 
take  our  stand,"  says  Mr.  Pollard,  "on  the  distinction  drawn 
by  the  Cologne  Chronicle  of  1499  between  the  Invention 
made  at  Mainz  and  the  Prefigurement(Vurbyldung)  which 

'Hlades's  Books  in  Chains,  I^ndon,  1892,  p.  200.  'Ibid.,  pp.  157,  158. 
'  'Die  paper  by  Heinrich  Wallau,  Gutenberg  Techniker  und  Kiinstler,  pub- 
lished l)y  the  (iiitenberg-Gesellscliaft  (  Vierter  Jahres-Bericht,  Mainz,  1905) , 
may  be  consulted  for  study  of  (iutenberg  types.  Seymour  de  Ricci's  valua- 
l)le  Calaloi^ue  Raisonne  dcs  J-'retnicres  Jnifivcssions  dc  A/oycnce  (1445-67) , 
puljlishc-d  by  tlie  same  society  in  1911,  tliough  primarily  bibliographical,  is 
useful  to  the  student  of  types  of  tliis  class. 


THE  INVENTION  5 

he  places  elsewhere,  or  if  it  be  preferred,  on  that  subtler  dis- 
crimination lurking  in  the  w  ord  'adinuentiones'  applied  to 
the  achievements  of  Mainz,  with  its  possible  suggestion  of 
earlier  'inuentiones'  of  another  origin.  Invention  or  Adin- 
vention,  whether  that  which  was  not  first  discovered  at 
Mainz  had  been  discovered  at  Strassburg  or  in  Holland, 
it  was  in  Germany  and  at  Mainz  that  the  Printed  Book 
as  the  ambitious  rival  of  the  Manuscript  first  came  into 
being."' 

Gutenberg's  invention  consisted,  apparently,  in  making 
brass  moulds  and  matrices  by  w^hich  type  could  h^accuratdy 
cast  in  large  quantities.  As  Mr.  De  Vinne  reminds  us,  relief 
printing,  paper,  wood-engraving,  printed  books,  even  the 
printing-press,  and  perhaps  the  idea  of  movable  types  were 
not  attributable  to  Gutenberg.  These  had  all  been  thought 
of  already.  Gutenberg  availed  himself  of  the  different  ex- 
periments of  his  predecessors  and  made  something  which, 
however  it  has  been  improved  upon  in  detail  to-day,  has  not 
been  improved  upon  in  theory. 

The  first  type-cutters  and  type-founders  were  merely 
somewhat  servile  imitators  of  the  manuscript  letter-forms  to 
which  they  were  already  accustomed.  We  can  understand 
little  about  the  design  of  our  present  printing  types,  if  we 
are  not  familiar  with  the  characters  in  the  black-letter  and 
Humanistic  manuscripts  which  just  preceded,  or  were  con- 
temporary with,  the  invention  of  printing."  There  appears 
to  have  been  no  thought  in  the  minds  of  early  printers 
other  than  to  reproduce  manuscripts  quickly  and  inexpen- 
sively; and  although  many  early  printed  books  were  very 
beautiful,  both  in  type  and  arrangement,  because  modelled  on 

*  See  Introduction  to  Catalogue  of  Books  firinted  in  the  XFth  Century  now 
in  the  British  Museum,  London,  1913,  Part  m,  p.  ix. 
'  This  is  developed  in  the  chapter  on  the  Latin  Alphabet. 


6  PRINTING  TYPES 

fine  manuscripts,  I  doubt  if  fifteenth  century  printers  so  con- 
sciously intended  to  make  their  books  beautiful  as  is  com- 
monly supposed.  What  an  early  printer  ivas  intent  upon 
doing  was  to  produce  a  printed  book  which  resembled  a 
manuscript  as  closely  as  possible ;  and  that  such  a  man  failed 
to  recognize  any  great  divergence  in  theory  between  a  book 
in  manuscript  and  a  printed  volume  is  shown  by  his  ob- 
^■ious  endeavour  to  follow  in  type  the  written  letter  of  the 
manuscript.^  Because  of  this  aim,  the  first  printers  made 
certain  errors  in  designing  and  cutting  types,  which  have 
profoundly  influenced  typography,  and  not  always  \\ith 
hai)py  results.  Intent  upon  imitating  manuscripts,  they  felt 
obliged  to  reproduce  the  kind  of  letters  that  a  reader  had 
been  accustomed  to  in  volumes  written  by  hand ;  and  thus 
they  had  neither  time,  opportunity,  nor  desire  to  consider 
■what  types  were,  or  to  realize  that  they  could  never  success- 
fully reproduce  in  metal  all  the  forms  derived  from  the 
pen.  In  other  words,  to  the  first  type-cutters  printing  was 
merely  an  evolution,  and  did  not  appear  a  new  invention 
in  the  sense  that  it  obliged  them  to  decide  what  forms  of 
letter  were  best  adapted  to  the  new  medium  they  had  to 
employ.  If  these  craftsmen  had  but  thought  of  the  whole 
subject  from  a  fresh  standpoint,  some  of  the  calligraphic 
black-letter  types  would  never  have  existed,  and  italic  and 
Oreek  types,  so  far  as  imitative  of  hand\\riting,  \A'Ould  have 
been  corrected.  Instead  of  a  long  series  of  endeavours  which 
have  not  yet  entirely  adjusted  type-forms  to  the  medium 

'  "Almost  invariably  the  style  of  the  early  i^rinted  book  follows  the  contem- 
porar)'  ms.  style  of  its  place  of  production.  In  consequence  we  find  strongly 
marked  national  styles,  though  these  were  soon  modified  by  the  international 
tnide  in  books  and  especially  by  the  influence  of  new  classical  texts  distrib- 
uted from  Italy.  In  scjme  places  and  in  some  other  classes  of  l)ooks,  local 
consenatism  was  stronger."  Syllabus  of  lecture  on  Early  Printed  Books,  by 
C;.H.  Palmer.  Ixindon,  1913. 


CUTTING  AND  CASTING  7 

in  which  the  type-cutter  has  to  work,  we  should  then  have 
had  characters  designed  a\  ith  closer  relation  to  the  mate- 
rial from  which  the}^  were  fashioned. 

Ever  since  the  sixteenth  century,  elaborate  diagrams  have 
been  published  to  show  how  letters  should  be  drawn,  as 
we  shall  learn  from  some  accounts  given  of  men  who  sug- 
gested new  methods  of  designing  them.  Generally  a  dia- 
gram of  minute  squares  was  first  made,  and  on  this  the 
design  and  dimension  of  each  letter  were  determined.  Jau- 
geon,  who  was  appointed  by  the  Acadhnie  des  Sciences  of 
Paris  in  the  last  years  of  the  seventeenth  century  to  sup- 
ply a  scheme  or  series  of  directions  by  which  type  should 
be  cut,  began  by  stating  that  "the  eye  is  the  sovereign 
ruler  of  taste."  The  rules  which  he  set  forth  were  extremely 
complicated — every  Roman  capital  was  to  be  designed  on 
a  framework  of  2304  little  squares.  Grandjean,  the  first 
type-cutter  \\\\o  attempted  to  follow  them,  is  said  to  have 
observed  sarcastically,  that  he  should  certainly  accept  Jau- 
geon's  dictum  that  "the  eye  is  the  sovereign  ruler  of  taste," 
and  accepting  this,  should  throw  the  rest  of  his  rules  over- 
board ! 

In  casting  type  the  two  schools  of  typography  spoken  of 
on  an  earlier  page — one  experimental  and  crude,  the  other 
sure  and  perfected  —  had  probably  different  methods.^  One 
cast  letters  in  moulds  of  clay  or  sand ;  the  other  under- 
stood something  of  the  punch,  the  matrix,  and  the  adjust- 
able mould,  which  they  slowly  perfected  into  much  the  kind 
of  appliance  we  have  now.  The  roughness  of  either  form  of 
type-casting  no  doubt  accounts  for  the  variation  in  appear- 
ance of  the  same  letter  in  old  books.  The  result  of  an  acci- 
dental impression  of  a  piece  of  type  in  a  book  printed  in 
the  last  quarter  of  the  fifteenth  century  is  shown  in  the  illus- 

*  Reed's  Old  English  Letter  Foundries,  p.  29. 


8  PRINTING  TYPES 

tration  {Jig.  l).  This  makes  it  clear  that  in  appearance  the 
earHest  types  much  resembled  those  of  to-day,  though  their 
heights  w ere  Aery  irregular.  While  the  quantity  of  type 
that  was  needed  by  any  one  printer  was  probably  small, 
the  different  characters  in  a  font  were  very  many  on  ac- 
count of  the  contractions,  abbreviations,  etc.,  then  consid- 
ered necessary. 

All  early  types  were  cast  by  hand,  and  even  down  to  the 

in  fequcntite:  fed  5ui^;:at  auttntico;^  ^^^5 
pagma  Atvba  fitieUtci:  cUK\lpt)ne^  (7 
|X)ti(rtmru  nifi  qn  alium  ^dcoitm  noiat  \© 
p^oims  vetfc^  jlatim  feqwuttl\«tba  h\ 
tnc*q2  ip&  pttm^  vitemp  coitct;  mgtpi 

1 .  Impression  of  a  piece  of  Fifteenth  Century  Type 
found  on  a  fiage  of  JVider^s  Li/ire  Morale,  firinted  at  Cologne  about  1476 

first  part  of  the  last  century  hand  type-moulds  were  in  use. 
Into  such  a  mould  hot  metal  was  poured,  and  the  type-caster 
tlien  gave  it  a  quick  shake,  which  forced  the  metal  into  all 
the  crannies  of  the  matrix.  By  practice  it  became  appar- 
ent that  some  letters  involved  a  different  sort  of  motion,  and 
were  more  difficult  to  make  than  others,  so  I  suppose  that 
the  variations  just  spoken  of  between  different  impressions 
of  the  same  letter  in  early  fonts  may  also  be  attributable  to 
the  varying  skill  of  the  individual  workman.  In  an  account 
of  an  English  foundry,  where  the  use  of  ancient  hand- 
moulds  survived  well  into  the  last  century,  mention  is  made 
of  the  uncouth  movements  and  swaying  figures  of  a  group 
of  gray-haired  type-casters,  who  appeared  as  if  demented  to 
any  one  who  did  not  know  what  they  \\  ere  about.  Hand- 


CUTTING  AND  CASTING  9 

casting  was  a  slow  and  tiresome  process,  and  according  to 
Moxon^  only  about  four  tliousand  such  letters  could  ordi- 
narily be  cast  in  one  day. 

In  all  probability  lead,  tin,  and  pewter  were  among  the 
materials  used  for  fifteenth  century  types.  Where  refer- 
ences are  made  in  old  books  to  the  use  of  copper  and  bronze 
in  type-casting,  they  may  apply  to  the  punches  or  matrices 
rather  than  to  the  types  themselves.  Steel,  brass,  copper,  tin, 
lead,  and  iron  wire  were  used  as  early  as  1480  in  Italy,  as  is 
distincdy  stated  in  the  "Cost  Book"  of  the  Ripoli  Press ^  at 

'  Joseph  Moxon,  the  first  ELnglish  writer  on  type-founding,  was  bom  in  York- 
shire, in  1627.  He  was  a  maker  of  mathematical  instruments  and  dabbled  in 
all  kinds  of  mechanics.  He  himself  said  tliat  he  had  never  been  properly  taught 
the  art  of  type-founding,  but  had  taken  it  up  solely  tlirough  his  interest  in  the 
subject — as  was  tlie  case  with  many  celebrated  type-cutters  before  and  since. 
He  issued  a  specimen  sheet  as  early  as  1669,  showing  characters  which  were 
not  particularly  good.  In  his  book  on  the  rules  for  the  formation  of  letters 
("useful  for  writing  masters,  painters,  carvers,  machinists,  and  for  those 
who  were  lovers  of  curiosity,"  and  dedicated  to  Sir  Christopher  Wren),  he 
advises,  as  did  Tory  before  him  and  Jaugeon  after  him,  that  letters  should  be 
first  designed  on  a  framework  of  minute  squares.  In  1667  he  began  a  series 
of  fourteen  treatises  in  monthly  numbers  on  the  trades  of  the  smith,  joiner, 
carpenter,  etc.,  and  a  second  series,  which  comprised  twenty-four  numbers, 
was  devoted  entirely  to  printing,  letter-cutting,  and  type-casting.  This  second 
volume  appeared  in  1 683  and  was  inscribed  to  Dr.  Fell  (among  others) ,  bene- 
factor of  the  Oxford  University  Press.  M.oxon' s  JHec/ianick  £jrercises,  or  the 
Doctrine  of  Handy-Works  is  the  first  English  book  on  type-founding,  and 
tlius  a  classic  in  the  literature  of  printing  —  though  a  very  dull  book. 
'  The  Ripoli  Press  was  in  a  Dominican  monastery,  originally  founded  at  Piano 
di  Ripoli  and  later  moved  into  the  neighbouring  city  of  Florence.  This  press 
is  interesting  to  the  student  of  typography  because  it  fiimishes  an  early  in- 
stance of  the  employment  of  women  in  composing-rooms;  but  specially  be- 
cause its  treasurer  kept  very  careful  accounts  of  its  expenses,  which  give 
valuable  information  about  the  materials  employed  in  the  work  of  the  press, 
the  cost  of  production,  etc.  The  press  had  sevei-al  faces  of  roman  and  black- 
letter  type  cut  for  it,  as  well  as  ornaments,  initials,  etc.  It  was  most  miscel- 
laneous in  its  output.  (See  De  Vinne's  Motable  Printers  of  Italy  in  the  Fif- 
teenth Century,  p.  127,  with  facing  plate.)  Portions  of  the  Ripoli  "Cost 
Book"  were  edited  in  1781  by  P.  V.  Fineschi,  under  the  title  JVotizie  Storiche 
sofira  la  Stamfieria  di  Ri/ioli,  and  a  monograph  by  M.  P.  Bologna,  entitled 
La  Stamfieria  Fiorentina  del  Monastero  di  S.  Jacofio  di  Ripoli  e  le  sue  edi- 
zfoni,  was  published  in  tlie  Giornale  storico  della  Letter,  /to/..  Vols.  XX,  XXI. 


10  PRINTING  TYPES 

Florence  —  w  hich  throws  a  good  deal  of  light  on  the  condi- 
tions of  fifteenth  century  printing-houses.  Reed  thinks  that 
steel  and  brass  were  used  for  the  mould,  steel  for  the 
punches,  copper  for  the  matrices,  lead  and  tin  for  the  type, 
and  iron  wire  for  the  mould  or  perhaps  for  stringing  type 
together.  An  alloy  was  introduced  later  by  adding  tin  and 
iron  to  the  lead.  In  the  fifteenth  century  the  discovery  of 
the  properties  of  andmony  gave  the  types  their  required 
hardness.  The  chief  ingredients  of  type  from  the  earliest 
times  have  been  lead  and  tin,  and  these  have  been  hardened 
either  with  iron  and  bismuth,  or  antimony. 

In  cutting  type  by  hand  to-day,  the  first  thing  a  type-cutter 
does  in  following  his  design,  or  that  supplied  him,  is  to 
make  a  counter-punch.  This  consists  in  cutting  out  the 
spaces  inside  of  certain  letters,  such  as  O,  or  the  upper  part 
of  an  A.  This  counter-punch  is  sunk  into  the  end  of  a  bar 
of  steel,  and  when  this  is  done  the  inside  of  the  model  letter 
is  finished.  The  outlines  of  the  model  letter  are  then  cut 
until  it  assumes  its  proper  shape,  numerous  "smoke-proofs" 
meanwhile  having  been  examined  to  see  that  the  letter  fol- 
lows the  form  which  the  designer  intends.  After  the  punch 
is  completed,  the  steel  is  hardened,  and  it  is  then  punched 
into  a  bar  of  cold  rolled  copper,  producing  what  is  called 
a  "strike."  In  this  state  it  is  really  an  unfinished  matrix.  It 
is  then  "  fitted"  so  that  it  will  cast  in  the  proper  position  on 
its  body.  When  this  matrix  is  square  on  its  sides,  holds  its 
letter  in  the  same  position  as  do  the  matrices  of  other  letters 
of  the  new  alphabet,  and  has  the  same  depth  throughout 
from  the  surface  of  the  bar,  it  is  finished.  This  is,  roughly 
sj)eaking,  the  process  by  which  hand-cut  punches  and  their 
matrices  are  produced. 

But  all  type  is  not  cut  by  hand  to-day;  in  fact,  quite  the 


CUTTING  AND  CASTING  11 

contrary.  The  theory  of  the  pantagraph,  understood  as  early 
as  the  seventeenth  century,  was  adapted  (in  the  second  qimr- 
ter  of  the  nineteenth  century)  to  producing  wood  type,  which 
had  hitherto  been  cut  by  hand.  This  invention  required 
but  one  model  alphabet,  and  from  it  an  unskilled  workman 
could  cut  on  wood,  on  which  nothing  had  been  drawn,  va- 
rious sizes  of  letters.  The  principle  was  very  naturally  ap- 
plied later  to  cutting  metal  punches.  Benton  of  Milwaukee  in- 
vented such  a  punch-cutting  machine,  thereby  at  once  enor- 
mously simpHfying  the  cutting  of  punches,  as  well  as  cheap- 
ening their  production.  At  first  sight  it  would  appear  that  this 
was  a  wholly  admirable  invention;  and  it  would  be,  if  it  did 
not  tend  to  mechanize  the  design  of  types.  But  a  design  for 
a  type  alphabet  that  may  be  entirely  successful  for  the  size 
for  -which  it  is  drawn^  cannot  be  successfully  applied  to  all 
other  sizes  of  the  same  series.  Each  size  is  a  law  unto  itself, 
and  is  often  bettered  by  modifications  in  the  original  design 
made  by  the  feeling  and  taste  of  the  designer.  To  a  trained 
eye,  looking  over  impressions  of  a  series  of  modern  machine- 
cut  types,  it  is  often  possible  to  tell  which  was  the  size  origi- 
nally designed  because  it  stands  out  as  the  most  harmonious 
and  successful.  In  this  particular  size  the  designer's  eye  had 
most  modified  his  rules,  and  in  all  others  the  necessary  modi- 
fications proper  to  the  varying  sizes  had  not  been  so  carefully 
made.  An  authority  tells  us  that  (ideally)  a  new  model  de- 
sign should  be  made  for  every  two  sizes  of  type.  It  was 
because  the  punches  for  the  older  types  were  cut  for  each 
size  by  their  designers  with  Jaugeon's  maxim  consciously 
or  unconsciously  in  mind,  that  most  old  fonts  were  so  pleas- 
ing in  effect.  Conversely,  one  reason  why  modern  types  are 
less  mellow  and  agreeable  to  the  eye  is  because,  Avhen  cut 
from  a  model  alphabet  by  machine,  there  is  too  much  rule 
and  too  little  taste.  "Even  with  strict  instructions  and  with 


12  PRINTING  TYPES 

best  intentions,"  says  Mr.  Bruce  Rogers/  "it  is  difficult  for 
the  habitual  user  of  a  very  accurate  machine  not  to  insensi- 
blv  smooth  out  what  he  has  ah\ays  been  taught  to  consider 
'imperfections'  and  to  make  as  mechanically  perfect  a  let- 
ter as  is  possible.  ...  I  have  come  to  believe  that  perhaps 
onlv  hand-cut  punches,  cut  by  the  designei'  of  the  type^  can 
preserve  the  real  feeling  of  the  design ;"  and  he  adds  that 
the  design  should  be  drawn  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  exact 
size  of  the  desired  font. 

In  modern  practice  this  is  exactly  -what  is  not  done  by 
machine.  Sizes  from  6-point  to  120-point,  or  as  large  as  de- 
sired, are  often  cut  from  the  same  model  letter ;  although 
contractions  and  expansions  in  either  dimension  of  letter- 
design  can  be  made  when  necessary  to  correct  certain  opti- 
cal illusions.^  I  have  sometimes  questioned  whether  a  ma- 
chine can  be  so  managed  that  it  will  ever  produce  those  fine 
and  almost  imperceptible  qualities  of  design  given  to  it  by 
the  hand  of  a  clever  type-cutter  —  which  mean  so  much 
to  the  appearance  of  type  in  the  mass,  and  which  vary  in 
nature  and  degree  in  different  sizes  of  the  same  series  of 
characters.  In  point  of  fact,  the  first  types  produced  by 
punch-cutting  machines  did  seem  to  show  a  certain  rigidity 
from  the  point  of  view  of  design.  That  there  has  been  an 
improvement  of  late  in  type  cut  by  machine  is  undeniable, 
and  yet  there  has  been  practically  no  change  in  its  mech- 

'  In  a  letter  to  the  author. 

There  are  many  optical  illusions  which  must  be  guarded  against  in  cutting 
an  alphabet,  the  secrets  of  correcting  which  are  still  among  tlie  "  mysteries 
and  art  of  printing."  If  you  have  ever  seen  an  inscription  cut  on  stone  in  capi- 
tal letters,  where  the  v's  or  w's  did  not  descend  below  the  base  of  the  other 
capitals,  you  will  have  experienced  an  illusion  of  this  sort.  In  very  lai^ge  sizes 
of  type  it  is  necessary  to  make  the  o's  descend  below  other  letters  as  much 
as  a  sixteenth  of  an  inch,  to  produce  the  effect  of  an  even  line.  Round  lower- 
case lettci-s  must  extend  above  square  lower-case  letters  as  well  as  below,  to 
appear  to  align. 


CUTTING  AND  CASTING  13 

anism.This  improvement,!  learn, has  come  to  pass  through 
a  more  sympathetic  and  subtle  manipulation  of  the  machine 
itself,  and  by  modifications  of  rules  by  the  eye  of  the  work- 
man  who  operates  it.  And  so,  after  all,  it  seems  to  be  the  eye 
and  the  hand  that  determine  the  excellence  of  the  product 
of  a  machine,  and  it  is  only  when  a  machine  is  as  flexible  as 
the  hand  that  it  is  as  good  as  the  hand.  In  the  final  analysis 
we  come  back  to  the  eye  as  the  great  factor  in  the  success- 
ful operation  of  a  punch -cutting  machine.  For  Jaugeon  was 
right. 

Nowadays  most  type  is  cast  by  machine.  The  difference, 
however,  between  early  hand  type-casting  and  modern  me- 
chanical type-casting  is  not  so  great  as  one  would  suppose, 
and  is  nothing  more  than  the  substitution  of  the  movement 
of  a  machine  for  manual  dexterity.  The  modern  type-cast- 
ing machine  has  the  advantage  of  infinitely  greater  pro- 
duction; and  as  much  more  care  is  taken  in  examining  the 
types  produced  and  discarding  those  with  imperfections, 
its  product  is  more  uniform  and  perfect  than  in  earlier  fonts 
cast  by  hand.  The  modern  type-casting  machine  is  not,how"- 
ever,  employed  for  everything.  Hand-moulds  are  still  used 
for  casdng  small  and  special  sorts  of  characters.  Some  de- 
tails in  the  production  of  kerned  letters  are  more  success- 
fully managed  by  hand  than  by  machine.  Many  script  types 
cannot  be  cast  by  machine  at  all. 

The  ingredients  of  modern  printing  types  are,  roughly 
speaking,  lead,  tin,  antimony,  and  sometimes  a  little  copper ; 
these  vary  in  proportion,  according  to  the  size  of  the  type 
being  cast.  The  end  aimed  at  in  type-metal  is  to  obtain  a 
material  which  shall  be  dense,  ductile,  and  fusible  at  a  low 
temperature.  Lead  is  too  soft  to  be  used  alone;  antimony 
is  therefore  introduced  to  give  it  hardness ;  as  are  copper 
and  tin  to  give  toughness,  the  last  having  the  property  of 


14  PRINTING  TYPES 

cementing  metals  which  fuse  at  different  temperatures.  This 
amalgam  of  metal  does  not  rust,  has  the  advantage  of 
shrinking  less  than  any  other  alloy,  and  fills  the  mould  and 
matrix  very  perfectly. 

As  to  the  wearing  qualities  of  type,  small  faces  of  type, 
with  lines  more  delicate  and  closer  together,  wear  less  well 
than  large  faces,  and  the  counters  in  small  faces,  being 
shallow,  fill  more  easily.  Types  also  wear  out  because  of 
careless  handling,  and  by  constant  setting,  distributing, 
correcting,  and  planing  down ;  and  therefore  much  depends 
upon  good  workmen  A\ho  handle  their  types  carefully  and, 
abo\e  all,  keep  them  clean.  Certain  printing  papers  cause 
tvpes  to  wear  much  more  than  others.  Such  are  many  of  the 
interesting  hand-made  papers;  especially  rough-surfaced 
papers  when  printed  dry.  So  it  is  not  alone  important  that 
tvpes  should  be  made  of  proper  ingredients  and  should 
be  made  well,  but  they  should  be  carefully  handled  and 
thoughtfully  employed.^ 

'  For  detailed  accounts  of  tlie  processes  of  ancient  t\'pe-cutting  and  type- 
casting, see  Reed's  Hintory  of  Old  Knglish  Letter  Foundries,  Introductory 
Chapter,  and  Moxon's  Mechankk  Ejcercises.  For  modern  t)pe-cutting  and 
tvpe-casting,  see  De  Vinne's  Plain  Printing  Tyfies,  and  Ix;gros  and  Grant's 
'Jy/iografihical  Printing- Surfaces.  Tlie  last  is  especially  valuable  for  its 
diagrams. 


CHAPTER  II 

A  FONT  OF  TYPE  AND   ITS  CASE:  THE  TYPOGRAPHICAL 
POINT:  POINT-SET  AND  LINING  TYPES 

TYPE  is  defined  as  a  right-angled,  prism-shaped 
piece  of  metal,  having  for  its  face  a  letter  or  char- 
acter, usually  in  high  relief,  adapted  for  use  in 
letter-press  printing ;  and  type  in  the  aggregate  is  described 
as  an  assemblage  of  the  characters  used  for  printing.  In 
a  single  type  the  chief  points  to  be  described  are  the  face, 
counter,  stem,  hair-line,  serif,  beard  or  neck,  shoulder,  body 
or  shank,  pin-mark,  nick,  feet,  and  groove. 


Pin  Mark 


Face 


Body  or 
Shank 


Niclc 


2 ,  Diag-ram  of  Type 


Stem- 
Serifs 


Hair-line 


/R1 


^^ 


Sh 


Counter 

■Beard  or 
Neck 


ld( 


ouiaer 


3.  Plan  of  its  Face 


The  accompanving  diagram  of  a  piece  of  type  {Jig.  2) 
shows  its  face,  body,  nick,  groove,  feet,  and  pin-mark ;  and 
the  plan  of  the  face  {Jig.  3)  shows  the  stem,  hair-line,  serif, 
counter,  beard,  and  shoulder. 

The  body  (or  shcmk)  of  a  piece  of  type  is  the  metal  be- 
tween the  shoulder  and  the  feet  (described  later),  and  the 


16  PRINTING  TYPES 

term  "body"  is  also  used  to  denote  the  size  or  thickness  of 
types,  leads,  etc.  The  pin-mark  is  an  indentation  on  the  upper 
part  of  the  bodv,  made  by  the  pin  in  casting.  The  ?i2ck  is 
the  groove  across  the  lower  part  of  the  body  of  the  type, 
and  is  a  guide  to  the  position  in  which  it  is  to  be  set  up.^ 
The  Jeef  are  the  projections  on  each  side  of  the  groove  on 
which  the  tvpe  stands,  the  groove  being  the  hollow  left  be- 
tween the  feet  w  here  formerly  was  the  jet. 

The  Jbce  of  a  type  is  the  letter  on  its  upper  end  which 
carries  the  ink  to  be  impressed  upon  the  paper ;  the  counter 
is  the  cavitv  left  by  the  surrounding  lines  of  the  face.  The 
stem  is  the  thick  stroke  or  line  of  the  letter ;  the  hair-line  is 
the  thin  stroke  of  the  letter.  The  serif  \s  a  short  cross-line 
which  occurs  at  the  ends  of  the  unconnected  lines  in  the 
type-face.^  The  beard,  sometimes  called  the  neck,  is  the  slope 
between  the  outside  edge  of  the  face  and  the  shoulder,  the 
shoulder  being  the  fiat  top  of  the  body  which  supports  the 
neck  or  face. 

A  standard  font  or  fount  of  letters  consists  of  all  the  char- 

'  In  American,  Englisli,  and  German  types,  the  body  carries  the  nick  on  the 
front,  but  in  French  and  Belgian  type  on  the  back.  Besides  showing  tlie  posi- 
tion for  setting,  this  aids  both  founder  and  printer  in  distinguishing  the  differ- 
ent faces  of  the  same  type-body  —  by  the  number,  kind,  or  situation  of  tlie 
nick  on  the  bodies  of  the  various  faces.  An  extra  nick  is  sometimes  cut  on 
small  capitals — o,  s,  v,  w,  x,  and  z  —  to  distinguish  them  from  lower-case 
letters.  Small  capital  i  is  so  marked  in  old  style  faces  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  arabic  figure. 

'  The  serif  is  an  important  feature  in  type-design  and  usually  varies  by  the 
st\le  of  its  attachment  to  the  body  strokes,  according  to  the  face  of  the  type. 
In  old  style  lower-case  letters  it  is  a  sort  of  blunt  spur;  in  many  modem 
French  and  Italian  types  it  is  a  delicate  hair-line;  in  modem  "Scotch- face" 
it  is  curved  or  bracketed  on  the  inside  where  it  meets  the  main  line.  But  the 
design  of  tyjjes  is  not  absolutely  determined  by  the  shape  of  the  serif.  The 
stems  of  letters  in  the  great  type-families,  and  jiarticularly  the  swellings 
and  depressions  in  the  forms  of  their  lower-case  letters,  are  also  important 
to  tlie  design  of  a  type-face  and  yet  independent  of  tlie  shajje  of  the  serif. 
Serifs,  taken  by  tliemselves,  may  resemble  each  other  in  quite  different  type- 
faces. 


A  FONT  AND  ITS  CASE  17 

acters  usually  needed  in  composition,  and  is  made  up  of  the 

following  sorts: 

ROMAN 

Capitals:  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G,  H,  I,  J,  K,  L,  M,  N,  O,  P,  Q, 
R,  S,  T,  U,  V,  W,  X,  Y,  Z,  &,  M,  CE. 

Small  capitals :  ^  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,  f,  g,  h,  i,  j,  k,  l,  m,  n,  o,  p,  q,  r,  s,  t, 

U,  V,  W,  X,  Y,  Z,  &,  ^,  (E. 

Lower  case:  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,  f,  g,  h,  i,  j,  k,  1,  m,  n,  o,  p,  q,  r,  s,  t,  u, 

V,  w,  X,  y,  z,  ae,  oe,  ff,  fi,  fl,  ffi,  ffl." 
Accented  letters:  a,  a,  a,  a,  e,  e,  e,  e,  i,  i,  i,  i,  6,  o,  6,  o,  u,  i^i, 

u,  il. 
Figures:  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  0. 
Marks  of  punctuation :  -  ,  ;  :  .  ?  !  —  '[]()• 
Marks  of  reference:  *,  f,  t  §,  II,  \  l^^' 

ITALIC 

Capitals :  J,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G,  H,  /,  /,  JC,  Z,  M,  JV,  0, 

F,  Q,  i?,  &\  r,  u,  F,  rr,  x,  r,  z,  ^,  js,  (e. 

Lower  case :  a,  b,  c,  f/,  <?,/,  g,  h,  i,J,  k,  /,  m,  n,  o,  /?,  ^,  r,  s, 

t,  u,  V,  w,  X,  y,  r,  as,  oe,f,f,f,  #,# 
Accented  letters :  a,  a,  «,  a,  e,  ^,  e,  e^  1, 2,  z,  ?,  6,  d,  6,  o,  u,  u, 

u,  il. 
Figures :  1,  2,  3,  4,  S,  6,  7,  8,  9,  0. 
Marks  of  punctuation  :  -  ^  ;  :  .  ?  !  (). 

Spaces:  en  quadrat,  and  3  to  em,  4  to  em,  5  to  em,  6  to  em, 
and  hair  spaces,  used  to  separate  words. 

'  There  are  seldom  any  italic  small  capitals. 

"  A  greater  number  of  ligatured  letters  occur  in  Caslon's  fonts,  viz. :  <?,  long/ 

in  its  combinations yZ-jy^,/,  Jk,  Jl,Jf,  ft,Jfi,JJl,  both  in  roman  and  italic.  Some 

other  old  faces  or  their  reproductions  —  i.e.,  the  Garamond  italic — show 

as,  is,  us,  il,  fr,  U,  Sp,  J?,  tt. 

'  Note  references,  except  in  rare  instances,  are  the  same  for  roman  and  italic. 


18  PRINTING  TYPES 

Quadrats:  em  quadrats,  and  three  sizes  of  large  quadrats, 
viz.,  2  em,  3  em,  and  4  em,  used  chiefly  to  fill  out  lines. 
Miscellaneous:  braces  in  different  lengths,  dashes,  leaders, 
fractions,  mathematical  signs,^  degree  marks,  commercial 
signs  (such  as  $,  @,  1j^),  and  so  forth. 
Occasional  Characters:  Hturgical  signs,  ^,  I^^  and  >J<  (for 
the  sign  of  blessing),  characters  denoting  contractions  (such 
as  ^,  q,  6,  d",  i^  p),  unusual  fractions,  etc. 

The  characters  which  make  up  a  complete  font  of  type 
fall  into  six  classes,  which  Mr.  De  Vinne  tabulates  as  : 
"(l)  Full-bodied  letters,  like  Q  and  j,  that  occupy  the  entire 
body  of  the  type;  (2)  Ascending  letters,  like  A,  b,  d,  h,  that 
occupy  the  upper  three-fourths  of  the  body;  (3)  Descend- 
ing letters,  like  p,  y,  g,  q,  that  occupy  the  lower  three- 
fourths  of  the  body;  (4)  Short  letters  like  a,  o,  that  occupy 
about  one-half  of  the  body  in  the  middle  part ;  (5)  Small 
capitals,  that  are  sometimes  in  height  more  than  one-half  of 
the  body,  but  not  as  high  as  the  ascending  letters;  (6)  Ir- 
regular characters,  like  the  *,  that  have  no  arbitrary  height, 
but  do  have  a  definite  position."  In  a  type  of  "modern"  face, 
the  figures  all  belong  to  the  second  class,  but  in  "old  style"' 
fonts  they  are  variously  short,  ascending,  and  descending. 

As  far  as  is  known,  the  mathematical  signs  +  and  —  were  first  used  by  Wid- 
mann  in  a  book  j)iiblished  at  I^ipsic  in  1489,  though  he  does  not  speak  of  them 
as  if  they  were  a  novelty.  Robert  Recorde  first  employed  them  in  an  Eng- 
lisli  book.  In  The  Whetstone  of  JVitte  (1557)  Recorde  employed  =  as  tlie  sign 
of  equality  (chosen  because  "noe  two  thynges  can  be  moar  equalle"  than  two 
parallel  straight  lines) ,  though  this  sign  had  long  before  appeared  in  mediae- 
val manuscripts  to  represent  the  word  est.  William  Oughtred  showed  the  x 
or  sign  of  nuiltiplication  in  his  Clavis  Mathematica,  issued  in  1631 .  See  Franz 
^icfCcns^s  Pa/eoffra/t/iie iMtine.  125  Facsimiles  en  fihototyfiie acomfiagnesde 
Iranscri/itions  et  (rexfilications,  avecun  exfiose  systematique  de  V histoire  de 
Pecriture  /atine. Treves  and  Paris,  1910.  Edited  by  Remi  Coulon  and  translated 
into  French  from  thcsecond  (.itrman  edition  oi  Lateinische  Faleografihie,  p.  xl. 
'  To  understand  the  terms  "old  style,"  "  modem  face,"  and  "modelled  " 
letter,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  earliest  roman  and  italic  types  were 


A  FONT  AND  ITS  CASE  19 

A  "sort,"  understood  in  connection  with  printing,  is  one 
of  the  pieces  in  a  font  of  type  considered  in  reference  to 
supply  or  lack.  To  be  "  out  of  sorts  "  is  to  lack  some  of  the 
necessary  types  in  a  case.  To  "order  sorts  "  is  to  order  more 
of  the  kind  in  which  the  font  is  deficient.  The  term  "  out 
of  sorts,"  therefore,  means  destitute  or  without  equipment. 

The  word  "  ampersand  "  is  a  corruption  of  "  &  per  se  = 
and,"  meaning  the  character  &  by  itself.^  In  some  italic 
ampersands  the  letters  e  and  t  are  easily  distinguished,  as 
in  the  examples  shown,  ^_5  ,  ©,  ^,  ^. 

The  Arabic  numerals  have  an  interesting  history.  The 
best  forms  to  employ  are  mentioned  on  a  later  page.  Arabic 
figures  are  not  cast  in  italic  except  in  very  modern  fonts. 

Types  have  much  better  appearance  when  composed  in 
certain  languages  than  in  others.  Latin  is  an  ideal  tongue  for 
type  composition,  no  other  language  having  anything  like 
the  same  dignity  and  monumental  appearance  when  well 
composed  in  fine  type  —  probably  one  reason  w^hy  Latin 
quotations  have  so  long  survived  in  specimen  books.  This  is 
due  to  the  many  u's,  m's,  and  n's,  the  lack  of  y's,  and  the 
paucity  of  other  descending  letters.  A  page  composed  in 
Latin  and  a  page  composed  in  English,  placed  so  that  the 
lines  of  type  are  perpendicular  to  the  eye,  will  at  once  show 
the  difference  in  effect  between  them. 

It  was  an  early  custom  to  display  black-letter  types  in 

of  much  more  uniform  line  throughout  than  now.  In  time  they  began  to  show 
increasing  differentiations  of  weight  between  the  stem  and  connecting  lines. 
The  earlier  form  of  letter,  with  slighter  differences  in  conti-asting  weight  of 
stroke,  we  now  call  "'old  style ;  "  the  much  later  form,  exhibiting  greater 
contrasts  of  thick  and  thin  lines,  constitutes  a  "  modem  face  "  letter.  And 
the  greater  the  variation  of  weight  of  line  in  the  design  of  a  letter,  the  more 
it  may  be  called  "  modelled." 

'  The  /ler  se  was  used  with  A,  O,  and  I,  to  indicate  that  the  letter,  standing 
by  itself,  made  a  word.  This  led  to  the  term  a/ier  se,  to  denote  what  we  should 
call  now,  A  No.  1.  For  instance,  "London,  thowe  arte  of  townes  A  per  se." 


20  PRINTING  TYPES 

the  words  of  the  Pater  Xoster  or  sometimes  (as  in  Ratdoh's 
fifteenth  centurv  specimen  sheet)  of  the  Ave  Maria.  Classi- 
cal (juotations  were  used  to  show  oft'  roman  type.  No  doubt 
the  familiar  opening  of  Cicero's  oration,  '"''Quousque  tandem 
abutere^  Catilina^''  has  had  (since  Caslon's  time^)  consid- 
erable influence  on  the  shape  of  the  capital  letter  Q ;  for 
this  sentence  became  so  consecrated  to  type-specimens  that 
most  eighteenth  century  type-founders  felt  it  necessary  to 
employ  it,  and  in  order  to  outdo  each  other,  they  elongated 
the  tails  of  their  Q's  more  and  more.  I  do  not  say  that  Q's 
have  long  tails  because  Cicero  delivered  an  oration  against 
Catiline ;  but  that  the  tails  of  some  Q's  would  not  be  as  long 
as  they  are  if  the  oration  had  begun  with  some  other  word  ! 
Ultimately  the  tail  became  so  long  that  many  capital  Q's 
with  their  companion  u  were  cut  as  logotypes,  ?>.,  Qu. 

In  casting  a  font  of  type,  the  proportion  of  its  letters  varies 
according  to  the  language  for  which  the  type  is  to  be  used. 
Latin  and  French  require  more  of  the  c,  i,  1,  m,  p,  q,  s,  and  v 
than  English.  This  variation  of  proportion  applies  to  almost 
all  modern  languages  in  different  degrees.  It  is  easy  to  see 
that  in  English  many  more  letters  of  one  sort  are  needed 
than  of  another.  Indeed,  the  arrangement  of  type-cases  is  a 
hint  as  to  the  proportion  used.  This  leads  us  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  printer's  case,  which  has  some  points  of  interest. 

A  case  is  a  wooden  tray  divided  into  various  compart- 
ments or  "boxes"  of  different  areas  but  of  a  uniform  depth 
of  about  an  inch,  and  a  printer's  font  of  type  ordinarily  re- 
quires two  of  these  trays,  one  placed  above  the  other  on 
frames  or  sloping  desks.  The  higher  tray  is  called  the  upper 
case ;  the  lower  tray  is  called  the  lower  case ;  and  it  is  from 
these  trays  and  their  position  that  the  characters  are  de- 
scribed as  upper-case  and  lower-case  letters,  a  term  which 

Caslon  appears  to  have  been  the  first  letter-founder  to  employ  this  quotation. 


A  FONT  AND  ITS  CASE 


21 


is  merely  descriptive  of  the  relation  of  the  cases  to  each  other 
and  to  the  compositor  {Jig.  4). 

The  ordinary  upper  case  has  98  equal-sized  boxes  and 
contains  capital  letters  in  order  from  A  to  Z,  except  for  the 
omission  of  J  and  U,  which  follow  the  Z.  The  remaining 


Upper 
Case 


4.  A  Pair  of  Printer's  Cases 

boxes  on  the  right  hand  are  occupied  by  commercial  signs, 
dashes,  braces,  diphthongs,  the  ampersand,  and  the  lower- 
case ffl.  The  left-hand  side  of  the  upper  case  contains  small 
capitals,  arranged  like  the  capitals  on  the  right-hand  side, 
and  the  other  boxes  are  filled  with  fractions  (sometimes 
replaced  by  accented  letters),  reference  marks,  such  as  the 
asterisk,  dagger,  section  mark,  etc.,  diphthongs  for  small 
capitals  and  lower  case,  the  small  capital  ampersand, 
brackets,  and  parentheses. 


22  PRINTING  TYPES 

The  lower  case,  \vhich  has  54  boxes  or  compartments, 
is  laid  (for  that  is  the  term  used  in  speaking  of  placing  type 
in  a  case)  on  the  principle  of  placing  the  letters  most  needed 
nearest  the  hand  of  the  compositor.  Of  these,  e  comes  first, 
ha\  ing  the  largest  compartment  allotted  to  it  of  any  char- 
acter ;  and  the  next  commonest  letters  are:  c,  d,  i,  s,  m,  n,  h, 
o,  u,  t,  a,  and  r,  together  with  3  em  spaces  and  quadrats. 
The  third  class  of  letters,  of  which  about  half  as  many  are 
required,  comprise  the  remaining  letters  of  the  alphabet 
(except  j,  k,  q,  x,  and  z),  to  which  add  the  comma  and  em 
and  en  quadrats. 

Lower-case  j,  k,  q,  x,  and  z,  the  ligatured  letters,  figures, 
and  the  rest  of  the  marks  of  punctuation,  and  4  em,  5  em, 
6  em,  and  hair  spaces,  occupy  small  boxes  along  the  edge  of 
the  case.  They  are,  in  a  sense,  suburban  letters,  and  live  in 
a  small  way  in  outlying  districts  ;  ^^•hereas  the  more  popular 
letters  live  in  the  middle  of  the  town ;  like  a  city  in  ^^■hich 
—  unlike  most  cities  —  the  busiest  inhabitants  live  in  the 
best  and  largest  houses!^ 

In  early  times  the  capital  letters  U  and  J  did  not  exist,  V 
being  used  for  U,and  I  for  J.  From  the  eleventh  to  the  seven- 
teenth century  the  letter  I  represented  both  the  vowel  sound 
of  I  and  the  consonant  sound  of  J.^  Its  likelihood  of  being 

'  The  cases  described  are  intended  for  book  work.  For  job  work  —  that  is, 
for  circulars,  advertisements,  etc. — a  different  case  is  required.  Tliis  "job 
case"  is  a  single  case  somewhat  varied  in  its  arrangement  from  tliat  used 
for  book  composition. 

ITie  lower-case  i  and  j  were  first  differentiated  in  Spain,  where  (when  print- 
ing was  introduced)  j  was  used  for  the  consonant  and  i  for  the  vowel.  At  first 
the  capital  I  stood  for  both  I  and  J,  as  it  now  does  in  German  type,  and 
should  in  all  black-letter  —  although  some  very  strange  J '  s  have  been  made 
by  modem  tyi)e-founders  to  supply  a  black-letter  variant.  The  capital  J 
appearc^d  in  Spanish  before  1600.  Louis  Elzevir,  who  worked  at  Leyden  be- 
tween 1595  and  1616,  is  supposed  to  be  the  first  printer  who  made  the  dis- 
tinction of  u  and  v,  i  and  j,  lower  case. 

T\\e  capital  letters  U  and  V  began   to  be  differentiated  by  printers  in 


A  FONT  AND  ITS  CASE  23 

confounded  with  one  of  the  strokes  of  some  letter  near  it  led 
to  various  efforts  in  writing  to  keep  the  two  sounds  distinct 
by  a  differentiation  in  the  character,  and  from  this  effort  came 
the  curve  of  the  j,  though  the  dot  of  the  i  survived  in  the 
lower-case  letter  when  the  tail  was  elongated. 

When  these  two  new  capital  letters  were  first  rendered 
in  type,  it  is  obvious  that  printers  had  become  accus- 
tomed to  an  upper  case  arranged  without  them.  To  intro- 
duce them  in  their  proper  places,  i.e.,  the  J  after  I  and  the 
U  after  T,  proved  an  inconvenience  to  the  printer  who  had 
been  trained  to  cases  in  which  there  were  no  such  letters. 
At  any  given  moment,  it  would  have  caused  too  much 
trouble  and  confusion  in  a  printing-house  to  make  this  re- 
form, and  by  this  vis  inertiae  the  J  and  U  still  follow  the  Z  in 
the  upper  cases,  as  they  always  have,  and  probably  always 
will. 

Efforts  at  improved  arrangement  of  cases  have  been 
many.  Lord  Stanhope  invented  a  case  which  varied  from 
that  described,  by  discarding  some  of  the  double  letters, 
which  he  considered  logotypes,  and  by  introducing  some 
new  combinations.  He  also  modified  the  height  of  the  front 
partition  of  each  box,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  compositor's 
work.  But  while  his  invention  may  have  induced  improve- 
ments in  the  arrangement  of  cases,  it  was  considered  rather 

Italy  as  early  as  1524.  In  England,  although  various  attempts  were  made  in 
the  sixteenth  century  to  introduce  u  and  j,  their  use  was  by  no  means  general 
until  1630.  At  first  V  continued  its  double  function  as  a  capital,  but  subse- 
quently U  was  adopted,  —  derived  from  an  uncial  form  of  V  dating  from  the 
third  or  fourth  century.  This  kind  of  capital  U  was  employed  up  to  the  end 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  when  it  ga^'e  way  to  the  present  form.  The  mod- 
ern English  use  of  U  u  for  the  vowel  and  V  v  for  the  consonant  dates  from 
about  1700;  but  tlieir  interchangeable  use  survived  until  well  into  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Words  beginning  with  U  are  still  entered  under  V  in  the 
catalogue  of  the  British  Museum.  In  Chambers'  Mncyclofiedia  of  1786,  words 
beginning  with  U  and  W  are  placed  under  V. 


24  PRINTING  TYPES 

too  radical/  Lefevre,  author  of  the  classical  Guide  du  Com- 
positeur^ who  was  "prote"  (or  foreman)  to  Didot,  also  ar- 
ranged a  case  which,  by  an  elaborate  series  of  calculations, 
he  shows  would  save  twenty-three  days'  time  in  a  period  of 
three  hundred  working  days.^  In  some  of  his  proposals  he 
foreshadowed  the  present  idea  of  simplification  of  effort  and 
movement  as  an  important  factor  in  economical  production.^ 
There  must  be  a  variation  in  cases  used  for  foreign 
languages.  In  general,  European  languages  employing  the 
Roman  letter  have  cases  differing  slightly  from  one  another, 
while  cases  for  Greek  and  languages  employing  non-Roman 
characters  have  a  great  divergence.  Greek  cases  vary  in  dif- 
ferent establishments ;  and  a  model  of  a  Greek  case,  with 
the  simplifications  proposed  by  Lefevre,  may  be  consulted 
with  profit.* 

The  names  given  to  the  various  sizes  of  types  in  current  use 
in  England  in  the  seventeenth  century  were  as  follows: 
French  canon,  two-line  English,  double  pica,  great  primer, 
English,  pica,  long  primer,  brevier,  nonpareil,  and  pearl; 
and  small  pica  was  also  occasionally  used.  Half  a  century 
later,  two-line  letters  of  double  pica,  great  primer,  and  pica 
were  added ;  and  paragon,  small  pica,  bourgeois,  and  minion 
were  to  be  found  in  most  printing-houses.  Pica,  equivalent 

'For  illustrations  of  Lord  Stanhope's  proposed  cases,  logotypes,  etc.,  see 
Savage's  Dictionary  of  the  j4rt  of  Printing,  London,  1841,  p.  102. 

LefSvre's  Guide  Pratique  du  Comfiositeur,  Paris,  1883,  p.  556,  and  facing 
plate. 

Of  late  years  much  has  been  said  in  regard  to  "scientific  management," 
and  much  unused  or  wasted  energy  has  been  liberated  or  saved  by  it.  But  tlie 
effects  of  scientific  management,  pushed  to  an  extreme,  on  the  trades  in  which 
elements  of  fine  art  or  personal  tiiste  are  factors,  would  often  lead  to  artistic 
inefficiency . 

I^f^vre,  ]).  242 ;  for  plans  of  cases  for  various  languages,  see  plates  in  the 
same  work. 


A  FONT  AND  ITS  CASE  25 

to  12-point,  was  the  standard  English  and  American  body 
and  common  unit  of  measurement  for  types,  leads,  etc., 
until  the  adoption  of  the  point  system. 

The  irregular  bodies  like  small  pica  and  bourgeois  origi- 
nated through  the  widespread  use  of  Dutch  fonts  by  Eng- 
lish printers.  This  predilection  for  Dutch  material  forced 
English  founders  to  supply  types  cast  to  the  Dutch  stand- 
ard. Some  of  the  Dutch  body -sizes  were  almost  the  same 
as  English  regular  sizes,  and  were  consequently  called  by 
the  usual  English  name,  which  would  thus  come  to  stand 
for  two  or  more  slightly  different  bodies.  But  when  a  new 
font  was  imported,  or  cut  by  an  unskilful  English  work- 
man, which  would  not  fit  any  regular  English  body,  it  was 
cast  on  an  irregular  body  and  given  a  new  name.' 

The  names  of  the  old  type-bodies  varied  in  different 
countries.  Although  they  are  practically  abandoned  to-day, 
it  is  useful  to  know  what  their  original  names  were  —  a 
part  of  the  literary  history  of  type  which  explains  many 
allusions  in  early  books  on  printing  that  would  be  other- 
wise unintelligible.  At  first  the  name  was  descriptive  of 
both  body  and  face.  Later  it  was  applied  to  the  body  only. 
For  instance:  English  was  the  name  used  to  describe  one 
size  and  all  faces  of  hlack-letter  type ;  and  thus  some  speci- 
men books  display  black-letter  of  14-point  size  under  the 
heading  "English  English."  Indeed,  until  about  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century  an  "English"  face  was  understood 
to  be  black-letter.  The  old  names  of  the  chief  English, 

To  confess  the  truth, ' '  says  Rowe  Mores,  * '  the  irregular  bodies  owe  their 
origin  to  the  unskilfulness  of  workmen,  who  when  they  had  cut  a  fount 
which  happened  to  vary  from  the  intended  standard  gave  it  the  name  of  a 
beauty,  and  palmed  it  upon  the  printers  as  a  purposed  novelty  —  such  are 
Paragon,  N'onfiarnl,  Pearl,  Minion,  Robyn  and  Diamond.^'  Dissertation 
ufion  English  Ty/wgra}ihical  Founders  and  Founderies,  I^ndon,  1788, 
p.  20. 


26  PRINTING  TYPES 

French,  German,  Dutch,  Italian,  and  Spanish  types  with 
their  approximate  equivalent  in  points  are  shown  in  the 
accompanying  lists/ 

That  the  sizes  of  ancient  type-bodies  were  arbitrary  was 
deplored  bv  writers  as  early  as  Moxon.  In  his  Mechanick 
Exercises  he  gives  tables  showing  the  number  of  squares 
of  a  certain  body  which  should  make  up  an  English  foot. 
For  instance,  184  squares  or  ems  of  a  pearl  body,  or  17^ 
of  the  great-canon  body,  were  comprised  in  one  English 
foot.  The  relation,  however,  of  these  types  to  one  another 
was  extremely  irregular.  Dominique  Fertel,  of  St.  Omer, 
in  his  Science  Pratique  de  Vlmprimerie^  written  in  1723, 
alludes  to  the  lack  of  precision  and  uniformity  in  sizes  of 
type  current  in  his  time.  It  was  to  remedy  this  that  Pierre 
Simon  Fournier^  formulated  his  "point  system"  in  the 
tractate  issued  at  Paris  in  1737,  en  tided  Tables  des  Pro- 
portions qiHil  faut  observer  entre  les  caracteres;  describing  and 
developing  it  further  in  the  preface  to  his  Modelesdes  Car- 
acteres de  V Imprimerie  of  1742  ;  and  finally  gi\'ing  an  elab- 
orate description  of  his  perfected  scheme  of  the  "typo- 
graphic point"  in  his  Manuel  Typographique  of  1764. 1  do 
not  know  how  the  scheme  of  proportion  of  type-bodies  pro- 
posed in  the  original  formulation  of  1737  compares  with 
that  proposed  in  1742,  but  the  latter  is  neither  as  complete 
nor  as  practical  as  is  the  plan  finally  de^'eloped  in  1764.  In 
the  Modeles  Fournier  took  for  his  unit  of  measurement  a  line 

*  For  names  of  types  in  French,  English,  German,  Spanish,  Dutch,  Italian, 
and  Magyar,  see  lists  in  Vocabulaire  Technique  de  VFAiteur  en  Se/it  Languea, 
licme,  1913,  p.  303.  The.  derivations  of  these  names  are  of  considerable  in- 
terest, and  are  treated  at  length  in  Reed's  Old  Kngliah  Letter  Foundries, 
pp.  35-40;  also  in  De  Vinne's  Plain  Printing-  7\///f«,  pp.  62-68. 

Commonly  called  Founiier  le  jeune.  He  sometimes  styled  himself  S.  P. 
Fournier,  as  in  the  Table  des  Profiortions  repro<luced  on  a  later  l)age. 


o 


U    U    Oh 


-2  C 


Oh    h 


■«     rt 

o 

•r 

rt 

7 

rt 

; 

«  ct; 

O 

c 

<:  ^ 

M 

cq 

0 

2    2-5 


rt    S    c    a,  c 


2    t^    o    3 


^^       w       *>^       O       'y       "■'  ***     r 


Oh     S-       t^     — 


S    S    6  .S 

O      rt      r!     ^ 


^  to  O  h  S  Z     q! 


c    o 


^ 


3  3  2  < 

QJ        QJ        CL)        ^ 
_Q      ^     ^        iH 


o 


C      O 


tJ    .'H      H      rS  C      rt 

.''^hij^,:;^  ram  Z,^^^'^~'-'001^ajO-'i 


s 


fcS 


^      C      "^ 
•:?       Oi      1"! 


U  u  ^ 


O  -S  ^  .S 


<u     (U     C     o 


a^  B 


t>^  O  fc^  Q  e<  h 


cj   a 


1^  °  S 

,      ..     bi)  t^  i:  rt 

^  O  I  u  .s  p; 

Q  O  H  Oh  cS  O 


§S 


o 


3  ^ 


o.  h  O  fc«i  o  M  u  S.a<  u  2 


rt      O    ,0; 


3 


Cl,    o 


-a 

CO 


c    ?i    S 


__       O       OJ       "J 

cx;p^H<;  Q  ^h^  j^L'  w  re  <Li 
•S  S  S  S  ^§  :§  .2  a  .2  &  1 1  ^ 


6o 


a,  •= 

jj  Pl,  ^ 

D  2  bO    rt  .y 

o  i!  c  .y  Ph 

Q  O  W  O,  _^ 

5      qj  qj  tu  (u  'n 

c    S  S  .=  c  3 

rt    -7  -7  -7  ^  O 

CJ       N  N  N  N  Q 


—       Kr,     W) 


■i     <l>    .^ 


h-1  pq  pq 


000000 

CUi    O,    Oh    CU    Oh    0-, 


.2  .S  .S  .S  .S  .S  .S  .S  .S    S 

'So  o  'o  '0  '0  'o  'o  'o  "0 

OhOh  o.  OHOHO.OHa.o.OH 

Goo  •+  N«OC>\oot^VO 


28  PRINTING  TYPES 

of  six  points,  and  a  10-point  type  would  therefore  be  meas- 
ured as  one  line  and  four  points  —  a  plan  somewhat  cum- 
brous and  inconvenient  [Jig.  5).  But  in  the  Manuel  oi  1764 
he  did  away  with  the  line  and  took  the  point  as  his  unit — 
a  much  simpler  plan,  and  one  w  hich  by  its  practicality  com- 
mended itself  to  printers  then,  as  it  has  done  ever  since.  His 
description  of  the  first  successful  endeavour  to  place  the 
measurements  of  types  on  a  rational  basis  is  quoted  on  a 
later  page. 

Before  Fournier  began  experiments  with  the  typographic 
point,  there  had  been  already  some  regulation  of  the  height  of 
French  types;  and  a  standard  measurement  of  type-bodies 
had  been  proposed  as  early  as  1733.  But  the  standard  to 
which  types  A\ere  to  conform  was  set  arbitrarily  by  some 
characters  which  happened  to  be  found  in  one  particular 
office,  and  the  regulations  which  were  issued  at  the  time, 
not  having  any  fixed  principle  of  universal  application,  were 
useless.  The  idea  was  that  one  type  should  be  equal  to  the 
body  of  tw  o  other  types,  but  what  the  form  of  those  two 
other  bodies  was  to  be  was  not  decided.  Of  course,  so  ill- 
defined  a  plan  ended  in  nothing. 

Fournier  describes  his  invention  as  something  "new  and 
unknown."  "I  give  it  a  place  here,"  he  says  in  his  Manuel^ 
"in  order  to  explain  the  new  proportions  which  I  have 
applied  to  type  bodies  by  the  fixed  measures  which  I  call 
typographic  points,  .  .  .  introducing  in  this  department  of 
typography  an  orderliness  which  it  has  never  before  had. 
Through  the  invention  of  typographic  points,  I  think  I 
have  been  fortunate  enough  to  succeed  with  an  exactness 
and  precision  which  leave  nothing  to  be  desired.  The  typo- 

Mannrl  Tyfirjirrafihic/ue,  Utile  aux  Gens  clc  litres,  iS"  a  ceux  qui  exercent 
leu  difft-rentcH  fiardcH  de  P  Art  de  r Imfirimerie.  Par  Fournier  le  jeune.  Paris, 
1764.  Tonic  I,  ))]).  125  ct  ftrr/. 


5? 


TABLE 

DES     PROPORTIONS 

DES  DIFFERENS  CARACTERES  DE  L'IMPRIMERIE 

Par  S.  P.  Fo urniesl ,  GraveHr  &  FonJeur  de  Cara^eres  d' Imbrimcrie. 


m 


n 


•4 


DtUX    roUCES. 


PARISIENNE. 
NOMPAREILLE. 

MIGNONE. 

PETIT-TEXTE. 

GAILLARDE. 

PETIT-ROMAlN. 

PHILOSOPHIE. 

CICERO. 

SAINT-AUGUSTIN. 

GROS-TEXTE. 

GROS-ROMAIN. 


PET1T-PAR.ANGON. 


GROS-PARANGON. 


PALESTINE. 


PETIT-CANON. 


TRISMEGISTE. 

GROS-CANON. 
DOUBLE-CANON. 
TRIPLE-CANON. 


GROSSE-NOMPA- 
REILLE. 


».  Pamsiennes 

— —  I.  P.irificrmc  ,  i.  Nompareillc. 

— —  1.  NoMPAREiLLES.  II   I .  Parificnne ,  i.  Mignone. 

I.  MiGNONES.  II   I.  Nomrareille,  i .  Pecic-Texte. 

— —  I.  Petits-Textes.  II   I .  Parif.  I .  Philofophie.  i   i.Nompareil. 
I.  Petit  Remain.  I   i .  Mignone ,  i :  G.iillarde.  II   i .  Parif.  i .  Nomp. 
— —  1.  Gaillardes.  I  3. Nompareillcs.  II   i.  Nomp.  i.  Cicero.  | 
1 .  Mign.  I.  Philofoph.  1   i .  Pet.  Text,  i .  Pet.  Rom.  11  i.  Parif.  i .  Pet. 
Text,  II   I .  Parif.  i .  Nomp.  i .  Mignone. 

i.Petits-Romains.  I  4. Parifienncs.  II  i.Nomp.  i.S.iint-Au- 

gufbn.  I  I.  Pet. Text.  i.Cic.  I  i.Gaill.  i.  Philofoph.  ||  1.  Parif  i. 
Pet.  R<>m.  I  I.Nomp.  I, Pet. Text.  I  t.Mign.  i.Nomp.  11  i. Parif] 
I.Nomp.  i.GaiU.  1  i."  Parif  ^,  Mignon.  i.  Pet.  Text. 
—^  z.  Philosophies,  11  i.Nomp.  i.Gros-Textc.  1  i.  Pet.  Text. 
Saint-Aug.  I  i.  Pet.  Rom.,  i.  Cic.  il  z. Parif  i.Cic.  I  i.Nomp.  i. 
Pet.Rom.  1  1.  Mien.  i.Pet.Texc.  1  1. Pet. Text.  i.Nomp.  11  i.  Parif 
I.Nomp,  I,  Philofoph.  1  i,Nomp.  i.Mign.  i.Gaill,  11  i. Parif  1. 
Nomp.  I  3.  Parif  i,  Mignon. 

— —  i.CiCERos.  I  3.Petits-Textes.  1  4. Nomparcilles.  11  i.Nomp. 
I .  Gros-Romain.  I  i.  Pet.  Text,  i .  Gr.  Text.  I  i .  Pet.  Rom.  i .  Sain^ 
Aug.  II  1. Parif  I.S.Aug.  |  i.Nomp.  i.Cic.  1  2. Mignon.  i.Per. 
Rom.  1  I.Gaill.  i.Nomp.  11  i. Parif  i.Mign.  i.Cic.  1  i.  Parif  r. 
Gail!.  I,  Pet.  Rom.  1  i,  Nomp.  i.Mign.  i.  Philofoph.  1  i.Nomp. 
I.  Pet.  Text.  I.  Pet.  Rom.  1  i.  Migt>.  i-  Pet.  Text,  i,  Gaill,  11  1. 
Parif  i.Mign.  I  3. Parif  i.Gaill. 

1.  Saints-Augustins.  I  4.  Migrtones.  II   i.Nomp.  i.  Gros- 
Parangon.  I   i.  Pet.  Text.   i.  Petit-Parangon.  I   i.  Pet.Rom.    i.  Gr. 
Rom.  I   I.Cic  I.  Gr.Text.  11  1, Parif  i.Gr. Rom.  1  i.Nomp.  1. 
Gr.Text.  j  i.Mign.  i.S.Aug.  1  i.Pet.Text.  i.Cic.  1  i.GaiU.  1. 
Pet.Rom.  I   1.  Pet,  Rom.  i.  Pet.  Text.  1   1.  Philofoph.  i.Nomp.  11 
1.  Parif.  1.  Gaill.  I   1.  Nomp.  i.  Pet.  Text.  I   1.  Parif   3.  Nomp.  I 
3.  Nomp.  I.  Pet.  Rom.  I  4.  Parif  i.  Pet,  Text.  11   i.  Parif  i.Mign. 
I.  Gr.Text.  1   i.Nomp.  i.Pet.Text.  i.  S.Aug.  1   i. Parif  i.Gaill. 
i.S.  Aug.  I   I.  Parif.  i.  Philofoph.  i.Cic.  1  i.Nomp.  i.  Pet.  Rom. 
I.Cic.  I   I.Mign.  i.Gaill.  i.Cic.  II  i.Nomp.  i.Mign.  i.Gaill,  1 
I.  Mign.  I.  Nomp.  i.  Pet.  Text. 

1.  Gaos-RoMAiNS.  I  3.Cic^ros.  1  4.  Gaillardes.  1  6.  Nom- 
pareillcs. II  I.Pet.Text.  I . Petit-Canon.  1  i.Cic.  r. Paleftine.'l  i. 
S.  Aug.  I .  Gr.  Parang.  1   i .  Gr.  Text,  i .  Pet.  Parang. 

(  On  ptut  tnure  au^mfntn  df  bttitcouf  rajffmiU^e  tie  c*  Corfl  t!f  dtl  fitiv»nt,  ) 

— —  1.  Gros-Parangons.  I  4.  Philofophies.  11  i.  Pet.  Text.  i. 
Trifm^gifte.  I  i.Gr. Text,  i. Pet. Canon.  I  i .  Pet. Parang,  i . Paldline, 

■^^—  1.  Petits-Canons.  I  4.  Saint-Auguftins.  1  8.  Mignones.  11 
I.Cic.  i.Gr.Canon.  1  i.Pqt.  Parang.  i.Trifm^g. 

i.Trismegistes.  I  4.  Gros-Romajns.  I  6.  Cic^ros.  I  8.  Gail- 
lardes. I  II,  Nomparcilles.  II  i.  Gr.  Text,  is  Doubl-Canon.  1  i. 
Pet.  Can',  i,  Gr.  Can. 

— — 4.  Palestines,  I  S.Cic^ros.  )  1 1, Petits-Te^^tes.  1  ifi.Nom- 
parcilles.  ii  i.Paleft.  i.  Triple-Canon, 


Tom  Ics  Caradires  doivent 
avoir  dix  lignes  &  dcmic  gco- 
mctriques  dc  hauteur  en  pa- 
pier ,  fuivanc  les  Rcglcmcns ; 
ou  onze  lignes  trois  points , 
mcliire  dc  I'EcbcUc 


Les  Caraftera  dc  t'Imprimtrie  n'nyam  foint  eii  jufquk  frefent  d'ordre 
purfait,  ( Its  Corps  eu/it  plus  funs  tu  plus  foiblts  ,futvint  les  Imprimeries) 
je  leur  dottne  ici  iin  corps  fxe  dr  u«e  corrcjpondinct ghinlc ;  en  cenfcrvunl , 
iiutiint  que  j'ai  pi ,  Us  forces  de  corps  ordinaires :  ce  qui  a  iti approuiie  des 
perfonnes  les  plus  exptrimentees  dans  tArt.Et  pour.  I'exlcution  ,  j'ai  fait 
une  Echelle  queje  divife  en  deuxpouces ,  lepouce  en  douzt  lignes ,  cf  U  liene 
en  fix  points  ;  oil  il  faudra  prendre  exaClement  U  mmhrc  de  lignes  (§■  de 
points  que  je  marque  pour  chaque  Corps. 


5.  Fournier's  Table  of  Proportions  of  Bodies  of  Different  Types 
From  Modules  des  Caracteres  de  rimfirimerie.  Paris,  1742  (^reduced) 


THE  TYPOGRAPHICAL  POINT  29 

graphic  point  is  nothing  but  the  division  of  the  type  body 
into  equal  and  definite  degrees  which  are  called  Points.  By 
this  means  any  one  can  know  exactly  the  degree  of  differ- 
ence and  the  relation  of  type  bodies  to  one  another.  One 
may  combine  them  as  numerals  are  combined;  two  and  two 
make  four;  add  two  and  you  will  have  six;  double  this  and 
you  get  twelve,  etc.  So  a  Nonpareille,  Avhich  is  six  points, 
with  another  Nonpareille  would  make  a  Cicero,  which  is 
twelve  points.  Add  still  a  Nonpareille  and  you  would  have 
eighteen  points,  or  a  Gros-Romain.  Double  this  total,  which 
would  make  thirty-six  points,  and  you  have  the  Trisme- 
giste,  and  so  on  with  the  others,  as  you  will  see  by  the  table 
of  proportions.  .  .  . 

"To  combine  the  bodies  it  is  sufficient  merely  to  know 
the  number  of  typographical  points  in  each.  To  do  this,  these 
points  or  given  units  should  be  invariable,  so  that  they  will 
serve  as  standards  in  printing-offices,  like  the  pied  du  roi, 
the  inch,  and  the  line  in  geometry.  To  this  end  I  have  fixed 
the  exact  size  which  the  points  should  have,  in  a  scale  which 
is  at  the  head  of  my  Table  of  Proportions,  and  to  insure 
invariable  exactitude  in  casting  types,  I  have  devised  an 
instrument  which  I  have  called  a  prototype.  .  .  . 

"The  invention  of  these  points  is  the  first  tribute  which  I 
rendered  to  typography  in  1737.  Obliged  since  then  to  start 
on  a  long,  difficult  and  laborious  career  by  engraving  all  the 
punches  necessary  to  the  establishment  of  my  foundry,  I 
found  no  rule  to  guide  me  in  fixing  the  body  of  the  char- 
acters which  I  was  obliged  to  make.  I  was  therefore  forced 
to  formulate  my  own  principles,  which  I  have  done,  and 
which  I  have  rendered  comprehensible  by  the  following 
table  {portions  shown  hy  Jigs.  6  and  7). 

"  At  the  head  of  the  table  is  a  fixed  and  standard  scale 
which  I  have  divided  into  two  inches,  the  inch  into  12  lines, 


THE  TYPOGRAPHICAL  POINT  31 

general  relation  between  all  bodies  of  types,  as  will  be  shown 
by  the  following  combinations. 

"This  scale  contains  in  its  totality  twelve  bodies  of 
Cice'ro.  After  printing  this  same  table,  which  I  published 
in  1737,  I  perceived  that  the  paper  in  drying  had  shrunk 
the  proper  dimensions  of  the  scale  a  little,  and  in  the  present 
table  I  have  forestalled  this  fault  by  adding  what  should  be 
allowed  for  the  shrinkage  of  the  paper." 

Fournier's  general  table  of  proportions  of  the  different 
bodies  of  characters  is  interesting.  His  idea  of  correcting 
the  lack  of  system  in  casting  types  was  excellent,  but  in  the 
exact  plan  which  he  was  proposing  it  was  risky  to  make 
merely  a  rough  and  ready  allowance  for  shrinkage  of  the 
paper  on  which  his  table  was  printed,  if  he  intended  to  ar- 
rive at  any  exact  result.  Books  at  that  period  were  printed 
on  wet  paper,  and  its  shrinkage  was  very  variable.  It  is 
perfectly  possible,  therefore,  that  the  elaborately  introduced 
scale,  with  its  144  points,  varied  by  at  least  a  point  in  dif- 
ferent copies  of  Fournier's  Manuel.  His  prototype  was  of 
metal,  a  large  measure  of  240  points,  something  like  a  com- 
posing-stick, and  was  intended  to  correct  this  fault ;  but  the 
prototype  itself  was  probably  subject  to  slight  variations 
in  manufacture,  and  was  in  no  sense  an  instrument  of  pre- 
cision. 

In  the  succeeding  steps  by  which  the  present  point  sys- 
tem was  arrived  at,  the  next  advance  was  made  by  Fran- 
gois  Ambroise  Didot,  of  the  celebrated  French  family  of 
typographers.  Realizing  the  weakness  of  Fournier's  basis 
of  measurement,  he  adopted  as  his  standard  the  authori- 
tative pied  du  7vi^  containing  12  French  or  12.7892  Amer- 
ican inches.  He  preserved  Fournier's  subdivisions,  mak- 
ing 72  points  to  the  French  inch.  Nor  did  he  find  it  dif- 
ficult to  adjust  the  smaller  sizes  of  type  to  his  new  sys- 


32  PRINTING  TYPES 

tern.  With  large  bodies,  Didot  was  less  fortunate.  Cicero, 
which  was,  like  our  12-point  or  pica,  the  standard  for  de- 
termining sizes,  he  changed  from  twelve  to  eleven  points, 
which  proved  rather  disastrous  in  its  ^^•orking  out.  The 
traditional  names  of  types  he  threw  over,  substituting  for 
them  (with  French  lucidity)  the  number  of  points  which  the 
tvpe-body  covered,  as  we  do  to-day;  and  this  uas  perhaps 
the  \'aluable  feature  of  Didot's  performance.  At  the  loss  of 
a  certain  historical  and  picturesque  nomenclature,  it  placed 
type  sizes  upon  a  basis  comprehensible  to  the  meanest  intelli- 
gence. The  introduction  of  the  Didot  system  of  points  was 
not  made  without  confusion, however;  for  many  printers,  es- 
pecially in  the  French  provinces,  persisted  in  using  the  sys- 
tem of  Fournier — a  persistence  continued  until  late  in  the 
last  century.  The  Didot  point  is  used  in  most  of  the  foun- 
dries of  Austria,  Asia  Minor,  Belgium,  Brazil,  Denmark, 
Germany,  Hungary,  Rumania,  Serbia,  Sweden,  Switzerland, 
and  Turkey.  Fournier's  point  is  scarcely  used  nowadays, 
except  in  Belgium. 

At  the  time  that  the  Didot  system  was  introduced  the 
French  metric  system  had  not  been  adopted,  and  it  is  only 
fair  to  say  that  until  a  type  system  is  formulated  which  is 
in  full  and  regular  accordance  with  the  metric  system,  per- 
fection will  not  be  attained.  But  the  advance  made  has  been 
very  great  and  has  infinitely  simplified  type-setting,  the 
facility  with  which  the  numerical  nomenclature  indicates 
the  sizes  of  types  as  compared  with  one  another,  being  a 
by-product  of  a  still  greater  mechanical  advantage. 

In  this  country,  George  Bruce  of  New  York  formulated, 
in  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a  plan  based 
on  the  theory  that  bodies  of  types  should  increase  by  arith- 
metical progression — that  small  pica  should  be  made  as 
much  larger  than  long  primer  as  bourgeois  was  larger  than 


THE  TYPOGRAPHICAL  POINT  33 

brevier.  This  system,  which  De  Vinne  calls  ingenious  and 
scientific,  was  not  adopted  except  in  Bruce's  own  foundry. 

Further  advances  were  made,  in  which  western  type- 
founders took  the  lead.  Marder,  Luse  &  Co.  of  the  Chicago 
Type  Foundry  began  to  produce  types  on  point  bodies 
about  1878.  Influenced  by  this,  in  1886  the  United  States 
Type  Founders'  Association  named  a  committee  to  consider 
the  point  system.  It  was  found  that  the  pica  body  selected 
as  a  standard  could  be  made  to  accord  (irregularly)  with 
the  metric  system,  83  picas  being  equal  to  35  centimetres. 
The  unit  was  gained  by  dividing  the  pica  into  12  equal 
parts,  each  part  being  called  a  point.  As  in  France,  the  old 
names  were  discarded,  great  primer  becoming  18-point, 
pica  becoming  12-point,  long  primer,  10-point.  This  was 
very  much  the  system  of  Foumier  and  of  Didot ;  the  only 
difference  being  that  the  pica  selected  was  of  a  slightly 
different  body  from  their  standard  body.  It  is  known  as 
the  American  point  system,  and  many  American  printers 
proudly  suppose  that  it  is  called  so  from  having  been 
wholly  invented  here! 

The  common  measure  for  all  bodies  of  type  was  de- 
cided by  the  Tjq^e  Founders'  Association  to  be  35  centi- 
metres or  83  picas  in  length.  To  gain  a  standard  for  de- 
termining the  height  of  type  it  was  proposed  that  this  same 
standard  of  35  centimetres  should  be  chosen,  and  15  type- 
heights  were  to  build  up  to  the  35  centimetres.  There  is  a 
slight  difference  here  between  the  old  standard  of  ^  of  an 
inch  and  the  new  standard.  The  difference  amounts  to  only 
about  ^  part  of  an  inch,  but  this  is  sufficient  to  make  it 
impossible  to  use  types  of  the  old  heights  in  combination 
with  those  of  the  new. 

The  Type  Founders'  Association  also  considered  the  ad- 
visability of  adopting  the  Didot  point ;  but  this,  which  had  a 


34  PRINTING  TYPES 

great  advantage  in  permitting  the  interchange  of  types  be- 
tween France  and  America,  Mould  have  involved  too  much 
of  a  departure  bv  American  founders,  and  was  thought  im- 
practicable. 

It  is  not  fair  to  expect  from  the  adoption  of  the  Ameri- 
can point  system  that  all  difficulties  will  be  overcome. 
Trouble  in  tvpes  may  still  be  caused  by  defective  moulds, 
by  the  overheating  of  the  metal,  or  by  careless  dressing ;  and 
types  of  the  same  bodies  from  different  foundries  cannot 
always  be  used  together  with  safety.  There  is  still  the  great 
obstacle  of  a  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  height  of  the  types 
themselves.^  But  in  spite  of  all  this,  typographical  practice 
has  been  enormously  simplified  by  the  "point"  system.  It 
was  adopted  in  England  in  1898,  though  it  had  been  in  use 
by  her  nearest  continental  neighbour  for  well  over  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years! 

The  adjustment  to  units  of  the  width  or  set  of  types,  as 
well  as  their  height-to-paper  and  their  body,  has  also  been 
considered.  In  1883  Mr.  Linn  B.  Benton  took  out  a  patent 
for  types  made  to  units  both  in  body  and  width — called 
"self-spacing"  type.  In  1894  a  western  firm  introduced  this 
system  of  self-spacing  types,  every  type  in  their  entire  out- 
put being  placed  on  a  body  the  width  of  which  was  equal 
to  an  even  division  of  the  standard  "pica  em."  Later  the 
more  logical  unit  of  a  point  was  adopted — hence  the  term 
"point-set."  This  was  to  result  theoretically,  as  indeed  it  did 
practically,  in  each  line  ending  evenly,  and  for  the  work- 
man trouble  in  spacing  was  avoided;  but  the  shapes  of  letters 
and  the  space  around  them  were  arbitrarily  rearranged  by 

Tlie  dimension  of  a  type  as  to  height  is  measured  from  the  face  to  the  foot, 
and  is  termed  "lieight- to-paper."  'Die  standard  height-to-paper  is  0.918 
incli.  Types  exceeding  or  falling  short  of  this  measurement  are  termed  re- 
spectively " high- to-paper  "  and  "  low-to-paper." 


POINT-SET  AND  LINING  TYPES  35 

such  a  method.  Types  have  definite  shapes  already  deter- 
mined. The  bodies  on  which  they  are  cast  cannot  be  wid- 
ened or  narrowed  merely  to  aid  mechanical  convenience, 
with  successful  typographical  results.  In  comparing  fonts 
cast  according  to  the  old  system  of  irregular  sets  and  those 
cast  on  the  point-set  system,  we  find  that  the  older  font  had 
more  than  ninety  different  sets,  while  the  latter  has  but  from 
thirteen  to  twenty.  Something  suffers  when  ninety  different 
adjustments  are  reduced  to  from  thirteen  to  twenty,  and  the 
"something"  that  suffers  is  the  effect  of  the  type. 

Point-line — another  so-called  improvement — was  intro- 
duced by  the  same  western  house  in  1894;  and  has  been 
so  generally  adopted  by  American  and  English  foundries 
that  it  is  now  known  as  the  Standard  Lining  System.  There 
are  mechanical  advantages  inherent  in  this  scheme,  but 
they  are  attained  at  the  expense  of  the  correct  proportion 
of  certain  letters.  The  convenience  of  being  able  to  align 
different  sizes  of  type  by  the  use  of  1 -point  leads  or  their 
multiples  is  no  doubt  appreciated  by  the  compositor ;  but 
to  make  this  possible,  types  below  18-point  are  arranged, 
so  far  as  "line"  is  concerned,  in  but  three  groups:  in  the 
first  are  5  and  6-point  types;  in  the  second,  7  to  10-point 
types;  and  in  the  third,  11  to  1 6-point.  Taking  the  second 
group  for  illustration,  the  "descenders"  of  g,  j,  p,  q,  and  y 
can  be  no  longer  in  a  10-point  than  in  a  7-point  face;  and 
as  they  are  none  too  long  in  7-point  they  become  much  too 
short  in  10-point.  This  disregard  for  proportionate  length  of 
descenders  of  types  of  different  sizes  pervades  the  whole 
scheme ;  and  consequently  no  size  of  type  (excepting  pos- 
sibly 7-point  and  11-point)  which  is  cast  on  Standard  Line 
can  have  descenders  of  adequate  length ;  while  in  some  sizes 
they  are  so  "chopped  off"  as  to  produce  real  deformity.  It  is 
fair  to  say,  however,  that  a  few  series  of  roman  and  italic 


36  PRINTING  TYPES 

types  have  been  arranged  on  Standard  Script  Line,  which 
permits  descenders  of  proper  length  in  all  except  small  sizes. 

The  shortened  descender  is  objectionable  from  two  points 
of  view.  In  the  first  place,  if  the  type  in  mass  (especially  in 
larger  sizes,  and  when  leaded)  is  not  to  present  a  squat  and 
rolling  appearance,  the  ascenders  and  descenders  must  be 
of  adequate  length  to  counteract  this  tendency.  And  in  Eng- 
lish, especially,  the  slanting  and  vertical  lines  of  descend- 
ers are  particularly  required  to  offset  the  preponderance  of 
round,  short  letters.  With  the  descenders  shortened  the 
page  loses  that  texture  or  "woven"  look  which  is  an  inte- 
gral part  of  elegance  in  typography.  It  is  objectionable,  sec- 
ondly, because  the  legibility  of  a  letter  has  a  direct  connec- 
tion with  its  form;  and  to  disregard  this,  for  mechanical  or 
any  other  reasons,  makes  type  less  "friendly  to  the  eye." 

One  convenience  of  the  lining  system  is  that  all  faces 
of  a  given  size,  \vhatever  their  character,  line  with  one  an- 
other. This  enables  the  compositor  to  give  emphasis  to  a 
certain  word  in  the  body  of  a  page  by  using  hea\y-faced 
type,  without  the  necessity  of  "justification."  A  good  typog- 
rapher seldom,  if  ever,  wishes  to  give  emphasis  to  a  word 
in  the  middle  of  a  sentence  by  setting  it  in  heavy  type; 
nevertheless  there  are  cases,  especially  in  catalogue  work, 
where  it  is  necessary  to  use  some  heavy-faced  type  to  pick 
out  a  title  or  some  saHent  feature  akin  to  it.  But  a  so-called 
advantage  which  offers  facilities  for  wretched  typography 
is  that  any  italic  will  line  with  any  roman — which  has  hith- 
erto been  difficult  and  "would  to  God  were  impossible!" 

In  these  point-set  and  lining  types  (offered  to  the  printer 
on  the  ground  of  laix)ur-saving  and  economic  advantages) 
care  about  distortion  of  the  shape  of  letters,  ill-fit  to  bodies 
or  mixture  of  faces,  or  the  effect  which  all  this  results  in,  was 
cast  to  the  winds.  Instead  of  being  combated  by  larger  foun- 


POINT-SET  AND  LINING  TYPES  37 

dries,  both  point-set  and  lining  schemes  were  at  once  fol- 
lowed for  business  reasons.  But  the  lining  system  was  not 
adopted  without  some  objection  from  printers,  which  is  now 
making  itself  distinctly  felt,  and  type-founders  are  again 
offering  fonts  with  long  descenders — a  movement  that  has 
extended  to  the  makers  of  type-setting  machines. 

Shortened  descenders  are  nothing  new.  Italian  printers 
used  such  deformed  types  in  the  fifteenth  century,  but  they 
had  no  lasting  vogue.  The  Elzevirs  used  them  in  the  seven- 
teenth century, — one  reason  why  Elzevir  books  as  reading 
editions  now  are  failures, — but  they  did  not  survive.  In  the 
eighteenth  century  Caslon  showed  them  as  variants  to  his 
famous  fonts,  and  Fournier  possessed  such  types ;  but  they 
went  the  way  of  all  flesh.  The  shortened  descender  tried 
in  our  day  is  again  going  out  of  use ;  for  no  type-founder 
or  machine-maker  can  permanently  "buck"  the  proper  pro- 
portions of  letters. 

A  lining  system  which  mutilates  descenders,  and  self- 
spacing  or  point-set  schemes  which  involve  either  lateral 
distortion  of  letters  or  too  much  space  between  them,  may 
for  the  moment  seem  clever,  convenient,  lasting,  and  money- 
saving  "  improvements,"  but  they  are  merely  unintelligent, 
temporary,  and  inartistic  expedients.  The  reason  that  such 
schemes  met  at  first  with  instant  success  is  attributable  to 
that  lack  of  standard  on  the  printers'  part  to  which  I  have 
alluded  before.  Their  waning  vogue  has  come  from  a  little 
study  and  education.  Men  must  show  their  faith  by  their 
works ;  and  it  is  of  litde  use  to  admire  early  typography 
when  one  is  willing  for  money-making  reasons  to  destroy,  or 
permit  the  destruction  of,  the  elements  which  made  it  ad- 
mirable. But  apart  from  all  this,  the  fundamental  trouble 
with  these  schemes  is,  that  they  make  types  hard  to  read. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  LATIN  ALPHABET  AND    ITS  DEVELOPMENT  UP  TO 
THE  INVENTION  OF  PRINTING 

IN  the  preceding  chapter  we  considered  how  type  was 
made,  the  sizes  of  types,  and  the  systems  w  hich  have 
been  devised  for  their  measurement.  We  must  now 
learn  something  about  the  history  and  design  of  type  itself. 
Whence  are  derived  the  shapes  of  the  characters  in 
which  you  read  the  sentence  before  you ;  and  whence  comes 
the  tvpe  in  which  this  sentence  is  printed?  The  type  of  this 
book  is  a  font  trarmtional  bet\\een  the  "old  style"  types 
of  the  school  of  Caslon  and  the  English  equivalent  of  the 
pseudo-classic  types  made  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  under  the  influence  of  Didot  of  Paris,  Bodoni  of 
Parma,  and  Unger  of  Berlin.  These  pseudo-classic  types 
were  modifications  of  that  old  style  type  (as  we  should 
now  call  it)  which  was  in  use  in  Ejigland  and  throughout 
Europe  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  English 
old  style  types  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries 
were  chiefly  derived  from  Dutch  models  of  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century ;  and  these  seventeenth  century 
types  in  turn  were  modelled  on  earlier  roman^  types  com- 
mon in  Europe  which  were  introduced  into  Italy  at  the  time 
of  the  Renaissance.  Any  one  familiar  with  the  earliest  print- 
ing will  note  that  many  of  the  early  types  were  black-letter 
characters  derived  from  manuscripts,  and  at  first  sight  it  is 
a  little  perplexing  to  know  where  Roman  characters  come 
from.  But  the  Roman  characters  of  the  Italian  Renaissance 
were  a  revival,  along  with  the  revival  of  antique  learning, 
of  the  lettering  in  which  antique  learning  had  been  pre- 

'  In  this  book  tlie  words  Roman  and  Gothic,  when  describing  handwriting, 
manuscript,  style,  form,  etc.,  are  capital izcti.  But  when  denominating  print- 
ing types,  they  are  not. 


THE  LATIN  ALPHABET  39 

served  at  the  period  of  Charlemagne ;  and  this  antique 
lettering,  preserved  in  the  calligraphic  revival  of  the  ninth 
century,  was  in  part  a  return  to  the  early  Roman  characters 
which  go  back  to  a  period  coeval  with  the  Christian  era. 
Thus  the  type  of  this  page  is  tied  historically  to  the  written 
characters  of  the  Romans. 

In  tracing  the  ancestry  of  any  modern  type-form,  it  is  by 
no  means  sufficient  to  limit  our  research  to  the  earliest  types, 
for  it  cannot  be  too  clearly  understood  that  the  ^r^^  printed 
books  (as  has  before  been  said)  were  nothing  more  than  imi- 
tations of  late  manuscripts.  "  The  discovery  of  typographic 
printing  did  not  all  at  once  produce,  it  is  to  be  understood, 
a  radical  change  in  the  general  aspect  of  the  book.  The  first 
works  which  left  the  hands  of  the  printers  were  astonish- 
ingly like  the  manuscripts  of  the  same  period,  especially  up 
to  about  1475;  so  exactly  indeed  that  at  first  sight  one  cannot 
always  say,  whether  one  has  before  him  a  piece  of  early 
printing,  or  a  manuscript.  .  .  .  The  letters  of  the  printed  text 
present  the  same  characters  as  those  w^hich  were  written 
by  the  calligraphers.  .  .  .  The  same  abbreviations,  the  same 
ligatures,  and  the  same  punctuations  are  found  as  in  the 
manuscript.  The  disposition  of  the  printer's  text  is  the  same 
as  that  of  the  manuscript  text."^ 

So  it  is  clear  that  we  can  have  no  knowledge  of  the  types 
of  to-day  and  their  history  without  knowing  the  history  of 
types  back  to  the  invention  of  printing,  and  that  we  can  have 
no  knowledge  of  the  first  types  or  their  relative  place  in  the 
scheme  of  things  unless  we  know  how  earlier  calligraphers 
formed  the  letters  of  their  manuscript  book-hands.  Nor  can 
we  tell  how  the  letter-forms  themselves  came  to  be  unless 

'  See  Leo  S.  Olschki's  /ncuncWe*  illustres  imitantles  Manuscrits.  Le  fxassage 
dii  manuscrit  au  livre  imfirime,  Florence,  1914,  p.  5.  See  also  the  illustra- 
tions of  illuminated  incunabula. 


40  PRINTING  TYPES 

we  kno^v  the  history  of  the  alphabet,  of  the  various  forms 
of  Latin  writing,  and  its  vicissitudes  in  different  countries 
up  to  the  invention  of  printing. 

Alpliabetic  writing  had  generally  five  successive  stages. 
It  began  w  ith  ideograms,  which  were  pictures,  represent- 
ing to  those  who  made  them  either  : 

(1)  objects; 

(2)  thoughts.^ 

Then  came  phonograms,  which  were  merely  ideograms 
by  which  sounds  had  come  to  be  signified  instead  of  things, 
and  of  these  there  were  three  sorts : 

(3)  signs  which  stood  for  words;  ^ 

(4)  signs  which  stood  for  syllables; 

(5)  alphabetic  signs   which   stood   for   the  elementary 
sounds  which  constitute  the  syllable. 

This  last  is  what  our  alphabet  is  now;  its  letters  being 
"phonograms  which  by  the  process  of  long  continued  detri- 
tion have  reached  an  extreme  stage  of  simplicity  both  as 
regards  form  and  value.  If  the  history  of  any  one  of  our 

*  The  Roman  numerals  are  supposed  by  some  to  be  ideograms — I,  II,  III  rep- 
resenting the  fingers  of  the  human  hand,  and  V  representing  the  hand  open, 
and  signifying  5.  Again  IV  =  1  less  finger  than  a  hand,  represents  4.  VI  =  1 
more  finger  than  a  hand,  gives  us  6.  X  was  a  picture  or  ideogram  of  two 
hands  =  10.  In  fact,  we  call  these  figures  digits  =  fingers. 

The  zodiacal  and  planetary  signs  used  by  astronomers  are  also  ideograms. 
The  symbol  $  is  the  caduceus  of  Mercurj'  entwined  by  two  serpents;  $  is 
the  mirror  of  Venus,  with  its  handle;  and  S  is  tiie  shield  and  spear  of  Mars. 
I'he  symbol  2/  ,  which  denotes  Ju])iter,  resolves  itself  into  an  arm  grasping 
a  thunderbolt;   wiiilc  h  ,  which  stands  for  Saturn,  is  a  mower's   scytlie. 

Among  other  ideograms  which  we  em])loy  may  be  enumerated  tlie  crown 
and  the  brcjad  arrow,  sundry  trademarks  and  armorial  bearings,  together 
■with  sevenil  ])rinter's  signs,  such  as  ^~  ;  !  ,  and  = ."  Taylor's  The  Mfiha- 
bet,  London,  1883,  Vol.  I,  pp.  7,  8. 

Such  symbols  as  £,,  s,  d,  though  alphabetic  in  their  origin,  are  now  used 
simply  as  convenient  phonograms,  standing  for  the  words  "pounds,"  "shil- 
lings," and  "  pence."  Ibid.  Also  such  signs  as  $,  tb,  cwt.  (c  =  100,  wt.  = 
weiglit),  etc. 


THE  LATIN  ALPHABET  41 

alphabetic  symbols  be  traced  backwards,  it  will  be  found 
to  resolve  itself  ultimately  into  the  conventionalized  picture 
of  some  object."  ^ 

The  next  question  is,  Where  does  our  alphabet  come 
from  ?  We  derive  our  Latin  alphabet  from  the  Greeks  and 
the  Greeks  received  theirs  from  the  Phoenicians,  but  from 
whom  the  Phoenicians  derived  their  alphabet  we  do  not 
know.  Sixty  or  seventy  years  ago  it  was  supposed  that  it 
could  be  historically  connected  with  the  Egyptian  hieratic 
writing,  but  this  theory  is  either  erroneous,  or  at  the  present 
moment  out  of  fashion. 

The  Greek  alphabet  had  a  close  relation  to  the  Phoeni- 
cian, or  (as  perhaps  it  is  more  properly  called)  the  Semitic 
alphabet.  In  the  first  place,  the  forms  were  in  many  cases 
very  much  alike.  The  word  "alphabet,"  which  gives  a 
clue  to  the  connection,  is  derived  from  alpha  and  beta.,  the 
names  of  the  first  and  second  letters  of  the  Greek  alphabet. 
"The  names  of  the  Semitic  letters,"  Sir  Edward  Maunde 
Thompson  tells  us,  "are  Semitic  words,  each  describing  the 
letter  from  its  resemblance  to  some  particular  object,  as, 
aleph^  an  ox,  heth^  a  house.  When  the  Greeks  took  over  their 
Semitic  letters,  they  also  took  over  their  Semitic  names." ^ 
Both  the  names  of  the  letters  and  their  order  in  the  two 
alphabets  are  the  same.  This  alphabet  was  employed  by 
the  Phoenicians,  by  the  Jews,  and  by  the  Moabites,  and  from 
early  inscriptions,  the  primitive  Phoenician  alphabet,  con- 
sisting of  twenty-two  letters,  can  be  made  up. 

*  Taylor's  The  Jlfihabet,  Vol.  I,  p.  8. 
See  Sir  E.  Maunde  Thompson's  Introductiov  to  Greek  and  Latin  Palaeo- 
grafihy,  Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,  1912,  p.  1:  referred  to  henceforth  as 
Thompson.  It  is  not  to  be  confused  with  the  same  author's  Handbook  of 
Greek  and  Latin  Palaeografihy,  published  by  Kegan  Paul,  Trench,  Triibner 
&  Co.  in  their  Lnternational  Scientijic  Series,  first  issued  in  1893  and  since 
republished. 


42  PRINTING  TYPES 

The  Greeks  learned  the  art  of  writing  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury B.C.  —  perhaps  earlier.  The  primiti\  e  Greek  alphabet 
was  generally  kno\vn  as  the  Cadmean  alphabet,  and  it  had 
many  yarieties.  The  alphabets  first  in  use  were  written  from 
right  to  left;  then  the  houstrophedon  method  of  writing  came 
into  yogue,  in  which  the  lines  ran  alternately  from  right  to 
left  and  from  left  to  right,  like  the  furrows  of  a  plough  ;  and 
finally  writing  all  ran  from  left  to  right  as  it  does  to-day. 

The  Latin  alphabet  had  twenty  letters  of  the  Greek 
western  alphabet  and  three  letters  in  addition, G,  Y,  and  Z. 
Our  English  alphabet  has  tuenty-six  letters,  the  additions 
being  (as  we  know)  J,  an  alternate  form  of  I ;  U,  which  is 
a  similar  form  of  V ;  and  W, \\hich  is  simply  two  ligatured 
V's  equivalent  to  a  double  U. 

Manuscripts  in  the  Latin  alphabet  go  back  to  the  first  cen- 
tury of  our  era,  and  the  history  of  Latin  writing  is  divided 
into  five  periods,  each  distinguished  by  its  characteristic 
group  of  handwritings.  These,  according  to  Steifens's  ^  con- 
venient divisions,  are  as  follows: 
i  writing  of  the  Roman  period  ; 

ii  national  handwritings ; 

iii  the  Carolingian  minuscule ; 

iv  the  Gothic  minuscule; 

v  Humanistic  writing  and  modern  Gothic  hands. 

Under  each  epoch  there  were  many  subdivisions.  For 
instance,  the  writing  of  the  Roman  period  was  of  several 
kinds,  namely : 

(rt)  a  capital  letter  hand  (further  subdivided); 

{Ij)  ancient  Roman  cursive  handwriting ; 

Steffens's  (Franz) ,  Paleografihie Latine.  125  Fac-similcH  en phototyfiie acom- 
fiagnea  de  tranacrifitioTiH  et  cVex/ilications,  avec  un  ex/wse  sy.itt'maticjuc  de 
P/iiatoire  df  rccriture  latine.  Troves  and  Paris,  1910.  (l-xlited  by  Renii  Cou- 
lon  and  translated  into  French  from  tlie  second  German  edition  of  Lateiniache 
Paleofp'afihie. ) 


THE  LATIN  ALPHABET  43 

(c)  uncial  letters; 

{(I)  later  Roman  cursive  handwriting; 

(e)  a  half-uncial  letter. 

These  belonged  to  the  Roman  period  of  writing  alone.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  describe  all  these  variations  here,  except 
to  say  that  there  were  at  a  very  early  period  different  kinds 
of  handwriting  intended  for  special  purposes;  just  as  later 
certain  types  were  employed  to  print  special  classes  of  books. 
For  instance,  in  the  writing  of  the  Roman  period  we  find 
there  were  two  forms  of  capital  letters,  which  are  called 
the  square  capital  (or  capita/is  guadrata,  e/egans,  or  scnp- 
tiira  monumentaUs)^  and  the  rustic  capital,  which  is  called 
capitalis  rustica  or  scriptiira  actuaiia.'  The  former  is  a  square, 
rigid,  formal  letter  used  for  inscriptions  and  more  stately 
kinds  of  manuscripts  ;  the  latter — the  rustic — is  some- 
what freer,  though  employed  for  fine  manuscripts  as  well. 
The  works  of  the  great  poets  were  written  in  these  styles  — 
for  the  edition  de  luxe  of  books  by  celebrated  authors  is  a  very 
ancient  institution.^  What  the  difference  is  between  these 
two  forms  is  plain.  Rustic  letters  were  easier  to  make  and 
could  be  written  more  rapidly  than  the  formal,  square  hands, 
but  both  forms  of  capitals  were  intended  for  manuscripts 
of  books. 

Now  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  letters,  accounts,  re- 
ceipts, and  scribblings  were  written  in  these  hands.  The 
Romans  had,  as  we  have,  a  current  running  handwriting 
which  they  used  for  commercial  and  ordinary  purposes, 
and  which  they  called  scriptura  cursiva^  or  littera  epistolaris, 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  straighter  book-hand,  which  was 

^ Paleografihie  Latine,  pi.  12;  or  Thompson,  fac.  82. 

* Paleografihie  Latine,  pis.  10,  19;  also  Thompson,  facs.  84,  85,  86. 

This  difference  appeared  also  in  inscriptions  in  stone.  See  Votive  Inscrip- 
tion on  marble,  in  square  and  rustic  capitals,  reproduced  in  Steffens's  Paleo- 
graphie  Latine,  pi.  7 . 


44  PRINTING  TYPES 

called  scriptura  erecta,  or  lihraria}  This  old  Roman  cursive, 
while  it  was  cursi\e,  was  a  cursive  of  capital  letters^  and  in 
course  of  time  these  letters  began  to  show  certain  ligatures 
as  well  as  inequalities  in  their  height.'  In  the  history  of 
any  art  or  craft  there  is  constant  development ;  and  it  was  so 
in  the  history  of  writing.  Letters  were  all  the  time  evolving 
special  characteristics.  The  capital  book-hands,  for  instance, 
fell  under  the  influence  (especially  in  rustic  forms)  of  cursive 
capital  handwriting  coexistent  m  ith  them ;  and  inversely 
the  cursive  capital  hands,  as  they  progressed,  became  mod- 
ified bv  the  influence  of  literary  book-hands  of  capital  letters 
familiar  to  the  same  scribes.  So  the  next  step  in  the  writ- 
ing of  capital  hands  showed  itself  in  a  development  of  what 
was  called  the  uncial  letter,  which  we  shall  hear  a  good 
deal  about. 

The  uncial  was  distinguished  from  the  capital  of  the 
book-hands  by  the  round  character  of  certain  letters ;  the 
chief  characteristic  "test-letters"  being  A,  D,  E,  H,  and  M.* 
In  other  words,  the  old  informal,  cursive  capital  hand 
had  broken  into  the  square  capital,  formal  hand,  and  pro- 
duced these  uncial  capitals,  M'hich,  because  they  were  much 
easier  to  write,  follo\\'ed  cursive  rather  than  square  capitals 
in  shape.  This  uncial  hand  began  to  show  itself  as  early  as 
the  third  century,  but  was  in  its  heyday  in  the  fifth  and 
sixth  centuries.  By  the  eighth  century  it  greatly  degener- 
ated, although  there  was  an  attempt  to  revive  it  for  certain 
ornamental  purposes.* 

*  Paleografihie  iMtine,  pi.  9. 

'  Ibid.,  pi.  13;  also  Tables  of  Latin  Cursive  Alfihabcts,  in  niompson,  pp. 
335-337. 

*  Strange's  Alfihabets,  I^mdon,  1898,  pi.  2. 

*  Sec  Paleoip-afihie  Inline,  pis.  15  (showing  both  early  and  later  uncials), 
17,  18;  or  Tliompson,  facs.  87,  88. 


THE  LATIN  ALPHABET  45 

The  later  or  new  Roman  cursive  hand  which  succeeded 
the  older  cursive,  like  it  was  characterized  by  flowing  liga- 
tures between  letters  and  by  characters  of  unequal  height; 
but  these  became  much  more  frequent  and  striking.  The 
style  of  the  letters  showed  that  their  forms  had  changed 
through  the  effect  of  rapidity  and  freedom  of  execution. 
Ligatured  letters  became  more  common  and  more  varied, 
and  from  this  kind  of  writing  the  black-letter  ft  ultimately  is 
derived.  But  a  chief  distinction  was  the  marked  difference 
between  tall  and  short  letters ;  and  from  this  hand,  thus  de- 
veloped, the  first  minuscule  alphabet — the  beginnings  of 
a  printer's  "lower-case"  alphabet  —  is  derived.  The  first 
square  capitals  were  drawn  as  if  they  were  between  two  par- 
allel lines.  The  more  cursive  capitals  and  uncial  capitals 
showed  some  tendency  to  break  through  these  lines,  and 
a  certain  number  of  characters  actually  did  so.  The  later 
Roman  cursive  appears  as  if  arranged  between yowr  parallel 
lines.  The  short  letters  are  compressed  between  the  two 
middle  lines,  the  bodies  of  other  letters  still  coming  between 
these  two  lines,  but  ascending  and  descending  letters  touch 
almost  the  first  and  fourth  line  of  the  four  imaginary  lines 
alluded  to  just  as  they  do  in  type  to-day.^ 

Finally,  there  was  also  a  half-uncial  letter  which  differed 
from  uncial  writing  in  this  way — that  while  uncial  writing 
was  composed  of  capitals  with  a  fcAv  intrusions  of  minus- 
cule (or  as  a  printer  would  say  "lower-case")  letters,  the 
half-uncial  was  generally  based  on  minuscule  (or  "lower- 
case") forms,  with  occasional  intrusions  of  capital  letters. 
This  style  of  handwriting  was  revived  as  a  part  of  that 
calHgraphic  reform  in  which  the  abbey  of  St.  Martin  at 
Tours  played  so  important  a  part  in  the  ninth  century.^ 

'  Paleografihie  Latine,  pi.  22;  Thompson,  facs.  110,  111. 

■  Tliompson,  facs.  98,  99, 100 ;  or  Paleografihie  Latine,  pi.  20. 


46  PRINTING  TYPES 

Here  we  have  a   fuller  development  yet  of  our  present 
"lower-case"  alphabet. 

It  has  been  said  that  Latin  writing  was  divided  into 
five  classes,  viz : 

i  writing  of  the  Roman  period; 

ii  national  handwritings; 

iii  the  Carolingian  minuscule; 

iv  the  Gothic  minuscule; 

V  Humanistic  writing  and  modern  Gothic  hands. 

We  have  so  far  touched  solely  on  the  handwriting  of  the 
Roman  period  and  the  five  classes  into  which  that  was  sub- 
divided; i.e.  (a)  the  capital  letter-hand,  (Z')  the  old  Roman 
cursive  handwriting,  (c)  the  uncial  letters,  (cl)  a  later  Roman 
cursive,  and  (e)  a  half-uncial  letter.  What  is  learned  thus 
far?  Merely  from  this  we  see  whence  Me  derive  capital 
letters,  whence  we  derive  certain  uncial  forms  of  capital 
letters  with  which  we  are  familiar  in  black-letter  types,  and 
whence  we  derive  our  lower-case  alphabet.  Furthermore,  we 
learn  that  there  were  three  forms  of  writing  —  a  formal,  less 
formal,  and  informal;  and  perhaps  it  may  be  said  that  in 
type,  capitals  answer  to  the  formal  square  capital  hands, 
lower-case  letters  to  the  less  formal  half-uncial  letter,  and 
italic  to  the  informal  later  Roman  cursive  hands.  The  square 
capital,  the  old  Roman  cursive,  the  uncial,  and  especially  the 
later  Roman  cursive  and  half-uncial  hands,  are  the  sources 
from  which  we  derive  our  present  type  alphabet. 

From  what  has  been  said  only  of  the  Roman  period, 
the  importance  of  all  the  different  epochs  of  the  history  of 
Latin  writing,  in  their  effect  upon  letter-forms,  may  be 
guessed.  But  we  are  not  considering  the  history  of  all  stages 
and  variations  of  Latin  writing  except  as  they  have  to  do 
more  directly  with  printing  types,  explain  the  shapes  which 
these  have  taken  on,  and  the  uses  to  which  they  have  been 


THE  LATIN  ALPHABET  47 

put.  We  need,  therefore,  only  touch  on  the  remaining  four 
great  groups  of  manuscript  hands: 
ii  the  national  hands; 

iii  the  Carolingian  minuscule; 

iv  the  Gothic  minuscule; 

V  Humanistic  writing  and  modern  Gothic  hands; 
— ^hands  which  had  either  an  enormous  influence  on  the  let- 
ters of  our  present  alphabet,  or  else  actually  survive  in  types 
in  daily  use. 

During  the  existence  of  the  Roman  Empire  diiferent  west- 
ern countries  continued  to  employ  Roman  cursive  writing. 
But  on  its  fall,  while  at  first  the  handwriting  of  the  pro- 
fessional scribes  preserved  more  or  less  the  old  traditional 
forms  of  uncial,  half-uncial,  etc.,  the  cursive  characters 
employed  for  literary  scripts  slowly  took  on,  in  various 
countries,  changes  analogous  to  those  which  the  Latin 
tongue  underwent  in  the  Romance  languages.  In  Italy  there 
was  an  old  ItaHan  cursive,  a  Curiale,  an  old  Italian  man- 
uscript hand,  and  the  better-known  Beneventan  writing. 
These  were  all  Italian  hands,  but  were  all  derived  from  later 
Roman  cursive  writing.  They  were  also  all  minuscule 
hands.  In  France  their  equivalents  took  on  a  diiferent  de- 
velopment into  what  was  called  the  Merovingian  letter,  a 
French  national  hand  originally  derived  from  Roman  cur- 
sive characters  but  with  marked,  though  slowly  developed, 
French  peculiarities.  The  Visigothic  writing  was  nothing 
more  than  the  Roman  hand  isolated  and  changed  by  the 
national  genius  of  Spain  into  its  characteristic  Spanish 
form.  What  were  called  the  Insular  hands  —  i.e.,  Anglo- 
Saxon  and  Irish — had,  too,  whatever  their  origin,  a  charac- 
teristic development  within  themselves  and  formed  a  partic- 
ular style  of  writing  entirely  distinguishable  from  French, 
Italian,  or  Spanish.  The  student  may  see  what  these  hands 


48  PRINTING  TYPES 

were  by  consulting  facsimiles  of  Visigothic,  Merovingian, 
Franco-Lombardic,  and  Pre-Carolingian  writing.^  "In  the 
^^isigothic  hand,"  says  Thompson,  —  and  the  same  is  true 
of  other  national  book-hands, —  "there  is  the  national  char- 
acter inherent  in  the  script,  which,  quite  independently  of 
any  peculiar  forms  of  letters,  reveals  the  nationality  of  a 
handwriting  as  clearly  as  personal  handwriting  reveals  the 
individual."  It  will  be  seen  later  that  this  is  true  of  the  na- 
tional printing  types  which  succeeded  these  national  man- 
uscript-hands. Roughly  speaking,  all  these  forms  of  letter 
were  what  in  type  we  call  "lower-case,"  though  in  them 
some  capital  forms  were  included.  These  national  hands  pro- 
foundly influenced  the  earliest  type-forms  in  their  respective 
countries ;  as,  for  instance,  in  certain  sorts  of  well-known 
black-letter  types  in  use  to-day,  which  are  directly  derived 
from  English  and  French  manuscripts. 

In  all  books  on  early  writing,  Carolingian  minuscules  are 
mentioned:  a  term  that  is  readily  comprehensible  if  it  be 
remembered  that  "minuscule"  may  be  taken  for  our  pur- 
poses as  meaning  merely  a  lower-case  letter,  and  that  "Caro- 
lingian" indicates  the  epoch  of  Charles  the  Great,  otherwise 
Charlemagne.  This  ruler,  in  the  revival  of  learning  that 
marked  his  reign,  not  alone  collected  manuscripts  preserv-  . 
ing  works  of  antiquity,  but  in  copying  them  desired  that 
the  form  of  letter  adhered  to  as  a  model  by  scribes  should 
be  the  most  beautiful  that  could  be  found. This  was  eifected 
by  a  partial  return  to  the  letter-forms  of  Roman  manu- 
scripts.^ As  has  been  happily  said  of  the  revival  of  classical 
forms  in  ornament  of  Louis  XVFs  time:  "We  can  see  its 

''lliompson,  facs.  115-131. 

*  It  should  be  said,  however,  that  the  revival  of  classical  literature  under 
Cliarlemagne  was  jjreceded  by  classical  studies  in  Ireland,  where  the  priest- 
hfxxl  showed  an  instinct  for  tlie  preservation  of  classical  literature.  Their 
spread  as  missionaries  all  over  Europe  played  a  large  part  in  the  preserva- 


THE  LATIN  ALPHABET  49 

inspiration  taken  from  the  classic  which  it  wished  to  re- 
produce, together  with  its  fortunate  inability  to  do  so,  and 
its  consequently  successful  creation  of  something  entirely 
original  but  yet  filled  with  classic  spirit." 

"The  reign  of  Charlemagne,"  says  Thompson,  "is  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  hand-writings  of  Western  Europe. 
With  the  revival  of  learning  naturally  came  a  reform  of  the 
writing  in  which  the  works  of  literature  were  to  be  made 
known.  A  decree  of  the  year  789  called  for  the  revision  of 
church-books;  and  this  work  naturally  brought  with  it  a 
great  activity  in  the  writing  schools  of  the  chief  monastic 
centres  of  France.  And  in  none  was  there  greater  activity 
than  at  Tours,  where,  under  the  rule  of  Alcuin  of  York, 
who  was  abbot  of  St.  Martin's  from  796  to  804,  was  spe- 
cially developed  the  exact  hand  which  has  received  the 
name  of  the  Carolingian  Minuscule.  .  .  .  The  general  prac- 
tice followed  in  the  production  of  fine  mss.  in  this  school, 
and  no  doubt  in  other  contemporary  schools  also,  which  set 
the  fashion  for  the  future,  was  to  employ  majuscule  letters, 
either  capitals  or  uncials,  for  titles  and  other  ornamental 
parts  of  the  volume ;  for  the  general  text,  minuscule  script ; 
but  for  special  passages  Mdiich  it  was  desired  to  bring  into 
prominence,  such  as  tables  of  chapters,  prefaces,  and  intro- 
ductory sentences  or  paragraphs  of  sections  of  the  work, 
a  handsome  style  of  writing  was  reserved  which  was 
adapted  from  the  old  half-uncial  script  of  the  fifth  and  sixth 
centuries."^  This  last  served  the  purpose  of  what  a  printer 
would  to-day  call  "display  type."^ 

"The  immense  services  rendered  by  tlie  Carolingians  to 
the  Latin  classics  consist,  therefore,"  says  Hall,  "not  in  their 

tion  of  ancient  manuscripts.  The  monasteries  of  Bobbio,  near  Pavia,  and  St. 
Gall,  near  Lake  Constance,  were  both  founded  by  Irish  priests.  Manuscripts 
executed  at  these  monasteries  are  important  in  the  history  of  paleogi-aphy. 
^Thompson,  p.  367.  ^ Paleografihie  Latine,  pi.  47. 


50  PRINTING  TYPES 

attempts  at  recension  which  could  never  be  systematic, 
but  in  the  accuracy  with  which  they  copied  the  good  man- 
uscripts which  were  still  accessible,  and  in  the  legibility 
of  the  script  in  which  they  copied  them.  The  last  service 
is  equally  important  with  the  first.  At  Tours,  Fleury,  Micy, 
and  elsewhere  in  France,  there  was  e^•olved  from  the  ugly 
Mero\'ingian  script,  with  its  numberless  ligatures  and  con- 
tractions, and  from  other  sources,  the  handwriting  known 
as  the  'Caroline  minuscule.'  This  clear  and  beautiful  alpha- 
bet, in  A\  hich  every  letter  is  distinctly  formed,  spread  rap- 
idly over  the  whole  of  Europe,  and  is  the  parent  of  the  mod- 
ern script  and  print  which  is  still  used  by  the  majority  of 
the  Western  nations.  The  difficulty  of  the  earlier  hands 
such  as  the  uncial  and  half-uncial  had  often  been  severely 
felt.  .  .  .  If  a  difficult  handwriting  such  as  the  Irish  had  been 
widely  adopted  in  early  times  the  havoc  wrought  in  Latin 
texts  by  slovenly  monkish  scribes  during  the  later  period 
would  have  been  much  greater.  Even  the  painstaking  schol- 
ars of  the  Renaissance  v^trt  completely  at  a  loss  when  they 
were  confronted  with  the  Irish  hand  or  the  Lombardic  {e.g. 
in  Tacitus).  The  soundest  texts  —  with  the  exception  of 
the  few  fragments  of  greater  antiquity  that  are  preserved  — 
are  those  which  are  attested  by  manuscripts  of  the  ninth 
and  tenth  centuries.  The  succeeding  centuries  witness  only 
an  increase  in  corruption."^ 

The  "Carolingian  Reform"  is  important  to  us  because 
the  letter  then  adopted  furnished  a  model  for  the  types 
which  we  use  in  printing;  for  this  Carolingian  minuscule 
spread  throughout  France,  had  a  profound  influence  in  Italy, 
Spain,  and  England,  became  the  dominant  handwriting  of 
western  Europe,  and  superseded  all  these  national  hand- 
writings except  that  of  Ireland.  It  was  introduced  into  Eng- 

'  V.  W.  Hall's  Com/ianion  to  Classical  Texts,  Oxiovd,  1913,  pp.  89,  90. 


THE  LATIN  ALPHABET  51 

land  in  the  tenth  century,  but  at  first,  apparently,  only  for 
Latin  texts/  It  was  generally  adopted  in  England  after  the 
Norman  Conquest,  and  became  common  in  Spain  in  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries.  Its  characteristic  was  also — 
for  Tours — to  banish  cursive  forms,  to  make  letters  inde- 
pendent of  each  other,  to  avoid  ligatures  (or  if  ligatured,  the 
ligature  made  slight  changes  in  form),  and  to  spread  the 
letters.  It  is  obvious  that  these  tendencies  adapted  themselves 
to  movable  types  when  the  time  came  to  make  them.^ 

But  the  time  had  not  yet  come.  "Even  with  this  wide- 
spread use  of  the  reformed  hand,  uniformity  of  character 
could  not  be  ensured.  National  idiosyncrasies  show  them- 
selves as  manifestly  in  the  different  scripts  of  different  people 
as  they  do  in  their  mental  and  moral  qualities ;  and  although 
the  Carolingian  minuscule  hand  formed  the  basis  of  all  mod- 
ern writing  of  Western  Europe,  which  thus  started  with 
more  chance  of  uniformity  than  the  old  national  hands  .  .  . 
yet  the  national  character  of  each  country  soon  stamped  itself 
upon  the  adopted  script.  Thus  in  the  later  Middle  Ages  we 
have  again  a  second  series  of  national  hands  developed  from 
the  Carolingian  minuscule  and  clearly  distinguishable  from 
each  other."  ^ 

This  second  national  development  began  in  the  twelfth 
century.  "It  is  the  period  of  large  volumes,  with  writing  on  a 
large  scale,  and  adorned  with  initials  and  borders  of  bold  de- 
sign. With  the  increasing  diffusion  of  literature,  mss.  rapidly 
multiplied,  and  now  the  book-hands  of  the  several  countries 
of  Western  Europe,  all  now  derived,  as  we  have  seen,  from 

DiflFerentiations  were  made  between  the  kind  of  books  for  which  these  va- 
rious hands  were  used.  Analogously,  in  the  beginnings  of  typography  certain 
types  were  used  for  one  kind  of  book  and  others  for  another — not  merely 
as  a  matter  of  taste  but  as  a  matter  of  tradition. 
*  Paleografihie  Latine,  pis.  47,  51,  52,  60,  and  Thompson,  facs.  132,  133. 

Thompson,  p.  403. 


52  PRINTING  TYPES 

the  Carolingian  minuscule,  exhibit  their  individual  charac- 
teristics ;  each  one  developing  its  own  national  style  and,  in 
course  of  time,  diverging  more  and  more  from  the  rest.  The 
Mss.  of  the  northern  countries  of  Western  Europe  are  now 
to  be  distinguished  from  those  of  the  south;  the  book-hands 
of  England,  France,  and  the  Low  Countries  being  modelled 
on  one  pattern,  and,  especially  at  first,  bearing  a  family  re- 
semblance to  each  other;  and  those  of  Italy,  Southern  France, 
and  the  Peninsula  being  of  a  type  which  was  the  creation  of 
the  Italian  scribes.  The  German  script,  whi6h  belongs  to  the 
northern  group,  rather  holds  a  place  by  itself,  being  gener- 
ally of  less  graceful  character  than  the  others."  ^ 

The  Gothic  minuscule  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  nothing 
more  than  an  angular  form  of  lower-case  black-letter,  the 
intermediate  result  of  this  second  national  development.  It 
is  distinguished  by  its  pointed  shape,  by  letters  Avhich  are 
taller  than  they  are  wide,  and  by  their  closeness  to  each 
other.  "This  form  of  writing,"  says  Steffens,  in  a  passage 
which  is  full  of  interest,  "developed  little  by  litde,  and  in- 
sensibly, at  the  precise  period  at  which,  in  architecture,  the 
round  arch  gave  place  to  the  ogee."  He  adds  that  "just  as 
Gothic  architecture  had  in  each  country  certain  special 
characteristics,  so  did  Gothic  ^^Titing  receive  everywhere 
a  national  impress.  In  the  fifteenth  century  the  humanists 
returned  to  the  Carolingian  writing,  and  it  was  they  who 
gave  to  pointed  writing  (as  they  did  to  the  Ogival  style  of 
architecture)  the  name  of  Gothic ;  that  is  to  say,  barba- 
rous."^ In  these  various  forms  of  writing  are  the  precursors 
of  black-letter  types  which  we  shall  meet  later  on."*  It  cannot 

Tliompson,  p.  436. 

This  supi)orts  what  has  been  already  suggested  —  that  typogmjihy  and  cal- 
ligrajjliy  are  closely  related  to  the  decoi-ative  and  arcliitectunU  feeling  of 
their  time. 
*  Paleogra/ihic  Latine,  pis.  101,  104,  106,  109  (Cicero),  111. 


THE  LATIN  ALPHABET  53 

be  made  too  clear  that  there  was  no  gap  between  the  earliest 
types  and  the  Gothic  minuscule  characters  of  manuscripts  of 
the  time  immediately  preceding  them;  and  that  the  reason 
the  earliest  German  printing  types  were  what  they  were,  was 
because  German  manuscripts  were  what  ^A<?y  were,  and  that 
the  same  thing  is  true  of  the  early  types  of  other  countries.^ 

Finally,  we  come  to  Humanistic  writing  and  modern 
Gothic  hands ;  for  from  the  fourteenth  century  there  were 
in  western  Europe  these  two  schools  of  writing.  The  Hu- 
manistic writing  was  round,  and  was  a  revival  of  the  old 
Carolingian  minuscule  hand  as  then  understood.  The  Gothic 
or  black-letter  hand  was  pointed  and  was  a  survival  of  the 
Gothic  minuscule  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  Humanistic  hand  was  a  logical  result  of  the  revival 
of  learning  at  the  Renaissance.  In  their  demand  for  the  works 
of  antiquity  the  Humanists  began  to  revive  the  Carolingian 
minuscule  in  which  these  works  had  earlier  been  copied,  and 
their  versions  of  it  furnished  the  basis  of  our  roman  type 
to-day.^  It  was  a  clear,  readable  hand,  which  grew  more  and 

*  To  trace  more  fully  tlie  stages  by  which  the  mediaeval  minuscule  book- 
hand,  derived  from  the  Carolingian  minuscule,  evolved  into  a  black-letter 
hand,  the  student  is  advised  to  consult  Thompson's  Greek  and  Latin  Palaeo- 
graphy, facs.  157-201,  noting  sfiecially  facsimiles  186,  187,  188,  191,  192, 
193,  194,  199,  for  their  resemblance  to  early  black-letter  printing  types. 

There  were  two  revivals :  first,  that  of  Charlemagne  in  the  nintli  century; 
second,  that  of  the  Italian  Humanists  at  the  Renaissance,  "which  period," 
says  Hall,  "may  conveniently  be  taken  to  extend  from  the  age  of  Petrarch  and 
Boccaccio  to  the  sack  of  Rome  by  the  troops  of  Charles  V  in  1527.  It  is  not 
to  be  supposed  that  the  classical  literatures  would  have  perished  but  for  that 
revival.  Both,  however,  were  at  a  critical  period  of  their  history.  Latin  might 
have  suffered  irreparable  losses  from  the  continuance  of  mediaeval  neglect, 
while  Greek  literature,  which,  as  far  as  can  be  seen,  was  but  little  affected 
by  the  fall  of  Constantinople  in  1453,  might  have  been  gravely  impaired  by 
that  disaster,  had  not  the  study  of  Greek  been  ti*ansplanted  from  Byzantium 
to  Italy  at  least  a  century  before  the  final  victory  of  the  Turks."  (Hall's  Com- 
fianion  to  Classical  Texts,  p.  97.)  For  an  interesting  account  of  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  Latin  and  Greek  manuscripts  from  the  Age  of  Charlemagne  up  to 
and  during  the  Italian  Renaissance,  see  Chapters  IV  and  V. 


54  PRINTING  TYPES 

more  in  favour,  though  for  a  long  time  used  only  for  secu- 
lar literature;  black-letter  alone  being  considered  proper  for 
sacred  literature.  It  had  various  names,  being  called  in  Ital- 
ian "Antiqua"  (the  name  adopted  by  printers),  although 
paleographers  preferred  to  call  it  "handwriting  of  the  Re- 
naissance" or  the  "Humanistic  hand." Its  roundness  seemed 
to  be  an  Italian  tendency.^  In  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  the  earliest  examples  of  this  Italian  hand  are  found; 
and  by  1465,Sweynheym  and  Pannartz,at  the  first  printing- 
house  set  up  in  Italy,  showed  the  influence  of  this  Human- 
istic \\Titing  in  their  semi-gothic  types,  which  they  soon 
abandoned  for  a  distinctly  roman  letter.  In  this  they  were 
followed  by  many  other  printers,  and  thus  the  roman  types 
spread  all  over  Europe.  It  must  be  remembered,  however, 
that  in  Sweden,  Norway,  and  Denmark  these  roman  types 
(like  Italian  handwriting)  have  been  employed  only  in  the 
course  of  the  last  century.  In  Germany  to-day  the  roman 
letter  is  used  only  for  certain  classes  of  literature — that  be- 
ing the  only  important  country  where  a  debased  mediaeval 
book-hand,  translated  into  type,  still  persists. 

Humanistic  writing  \\  as,  of  course,  subdivided  into 
groups,  as  were  all  such  schools  of  writing.  There  was  a 
Humanistic  writing  for  books  which  was  at  its  best  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  but  which,  by  the  sixteenth  century, 
printing  type  had  driven  out.^  It  is  interesting  to  compare 
examples  of  the  Carolingian  minuscule  with  the  Human- 
istic hand  based  upon  it."*  Then  there  was  a  Humanistic 
cursive  —  a  flowing  form  of  the  straighter  Humanistic 
Roman,  inclined  as  in  writing,^  and  for  which  there  seems 

Even  in  Italian  Gothic  hands  of  tlie  period  a  mucli  greater  roundness  was 
preserved  than  in  most  other  national  Gothic  texts  (Thompson,  fac.  194). 
'  Paleografihie  iMtine,  pi.  115. 
'  Ibid.  Compare  pis.  60  and  115.  '  Ibid.,  pi.  116. 


THE  LATIN  ALPHABET  55 

to  have  been  no  model  in  the  Carolingian  minuscule.  Spread- 
ing through  Italy  as  a  cursive  letter,  this  later  became  the 
common  handwriting  of  all  countries  which  had  adopted 
for  books  the  Humanistic  form  of  Roman  letter.  Aldus 
based  his  italic  printing  types  on  this  Humanistic  cursive 
letter,  and  all  italic  types  are  based  on  it.  The  handwriting 
which  w^e  employ  to-day  and  the  tasteless,  typographical 
script  equivalent  thereto,  is  simply  the  cursive  of  our  own 
time  and  country. 

Nothing  more  need  be  considered,  except  so-called  mod- 
ern Gothic  writing.  This  modern  Gothic  writing  was  a  cur- 
sive form  of  black-letter.  After  the  invention  of  printing,  the 
old  formal  pointed  Gothic  book-hands  were  given  up  by 
scribes  and  transmuted  into  type-forms.  Such  books  as  were 
written,  were  in  a  cursive  Gothic  hand,  which,  like  the  na- 
tional book-hands,  developed  characteristic  national  traits. 
The  French  iettre  batarde^  perhaps  the  most  characteristic 
of  these  Gothic  cursives,  was,  however,  soon  rendered  into 
type;  and  in  England  the  same  letter  in  coarser  form  and 
equivalents  of  the  most  popular  current  English  hands  were 
likewise  adapted  to  typography.  The  close  connection  be- 
tween EngHsh  Gothic  vernacular  book-hands^  and  the  ear- 
liest English  types  is  obvious  if  we  compare  Thompson's 
reproduction  of  the  page  of  a  Wycliffite  Bible,  written  be- 
fore 1397,^  and  the  Iettre  de  forme  used  by  Caxton  in  his 
Boethius.^  Thompson  also  shows  a  page  of  a  manuscript 
Chaucer  of  about  1400,^  which  in  writing  is  very  like  the 
types  Caxton  used  in  his  Ars  Monendi!"  An  early  fifteenth 

'  Thompson,  fac.  196.  '  Ibid.,  pp.  472-490.  '  Ibid.,  fac.  209. 

*  DufF  (E.  Gordon),  Early  English  Printing.  A  Series  of  Facsimiles  of  all 

the  Ty/ies  used  in  England  during  the  XVth  Century,  etc.  I/)ndon,  1896, 

pi.  II. 

"  Thompson,  fac.  210. 

"  Gordon  DuflF,  pi.  VII,  second  type  in  lower  facsimile. 


56  PRINTING  TYPES 

century  manuscript  of  Occleve^  also  suggests  early  Eng- 
lish typography.  The  Netherland  printers'  uncouth  fonts 
closely  followed  the  equally  uncouth  ^\  riting  of  their  locality 
and  time.  And  as  for  Germany  (as  has  been  said),  its  pres- 
ent type  is  simply  a  survival  of  the  early  German  cursive 
Gothic,  in  a  debased  form  ;'  for  in  other  European  countries 
this  cursixe  Gothic  letter  was,  fortunately,  superseded  by 
Humanistic  writing.  "If  Humanistic  writing  had  not  been 
adopted,"  says  Steffens,  "to-day,  according  to  all  probability 
we  should  have  a  great  number  of  different  national  writ- 
ings, difficult  to  read,  just  as  in  the  earh'  mediaeval  days 
before  the  Carolingian  minuscule  had  come  to  supplant  the 
national  hands." ^ 

To  recapitulate  :  there  were  in  use  among  the  Romans 
divers  forms  of  writing,  which  continued,  with  various  de- 
velopments, until  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Then 
these  forms  developed  still  further  in  character,  in  different 
countries,  according  to  the  national  genius.  Some  of  these 
forms,  through  their  fitness,  survived ;  others  perished.  The 
roman  character  that  we  employ  to-day  is  the  offspring 
of  a  form  of  letter  partly  revived  from  antique  days  by 
Charlemagne  and  partly  the  creation  of  its  period.  The 
splendid  hand  of  this  revival  after  a  time  again  yielded  to  the 
play  of  national  influences.  A  second  time  revived  at  the  Re- 
naissance— a  second  time  revived  through  this  same  devo- 
tion to  classical  learning — on  the  invention  of  printing,  this 

'  Thompson,  fac.  212. 

'  Paleografihie  Latine,  pi.  121. 

In  addition  to  the  hands  employed  for  books,  there  were  a  certain  number 
of  Gothic  hands  employed  for  documents  —  such  as  the  French  Civilite,  etc. 
{Paleografihie  Latine,  pi.  119)  —  which  were  occasionally  rendered  into 
fonts  of  printing  type;  but  they  were  uncommon  and  held  much  the  same 
position  in  reference  to  type  tlien,  that  modem  script  t\pes  hold  to  other  types 


now. 


THE  LATIN  ALPHABET  57 

letter  was  transmuted  in-to  type  and  became  the  roman  letter 
of  our  modern  printin,^/  In  ancient  times,  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  in  the  period  immediately  before  the  invention 
of  printing,  we  can  seem,  too,  to  trace  three  forms  of  writing : 
the  formal,  to  which  in  type  our  capital  letter  answers;  the 
less  formal,  to  which  our  lower-case  type  is  equivalent ;  and 
the  epistolary  or  cursive,  which  is  now  rendered  into  type 
called  "italic."  Broadly  speaking,  all  types,  like  all  hand- 
writings, fall  into  these  classes.  What  we  have  now  to  know, 
therefore,  is  about  these  three  great  classes  of  types,  at 
various  periods,  and  in  their  different  forms,  down  to  our 
own  day. 

*  The  reader  should  examine  throughout  Steffens's  Paleografihie  Latine,  in 
the  French  edition  cited,  and  the  less  conveniently  arranged,  bnt  more  avail- 
able volume,  Thompson's  Introduction  to  Greek  and  Latin  Palaeografihy.  On 
tliese  two  works  most  of  this  chapter  is  based. 


CHAPTER  IV 

TYPE  AND  TYPE-FORMS  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY 
IN   GERMANY 

THE  next  step  in  the  study  of  type  is  to  learn  to 
recognize  the  various  forms  or  "tribes"  of  type 
and  the  subde  differentiations  between  varieties  of 
the  same  general  form  of  type-face.  These  differences  are 
verv  slight ;  often  to  the  casual  observer  no  differences  ap- 
pear. There  is  no  way  to  learn  to  recognize  them  except  by 
training  the  eye.  There  is  no  better  way  to  train  the  eye  than 
to  familiarize  it  with  the  type-forms  common  to  the  fifteenth 
century  in  the  countries  where  printing  was  then  practised, 
and  to  follow  this  by  an  examination  of  the  type-forms  of 
these  same  countries  from  the  sixteenth  to  the  eighteenth 
century.  By  the  time  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  is 
arrived  at,  one  will  be  fitted  to  consider  intelligendy  the 
nineteenth  and  twentieth  century  types  in  use  to-day.  For 
unless  we  know  the  history  of  early  type-forms,  we  cannot 
choose,  nor  have  adequate  reasons  for  choosing,  the  good 
types  which  should  equip  a  modern  composing-room.  This 
is  true,  because  much  type  to-day  which  seems  desirable  to 
the  novice,  to  a  trained  eye  is  merely  a  corrupt  version  of 
older  and  better  types ;  and  also  because  unless  we  know 
something  of  the  historical  and  literary  associations  con- 
nected with  certain  type-forms,  we  shall  not  have  a  sense  of 
the  fitness  of  things  in  their  use — that  sense  which  prevents 
a  man  from  printing  the  Marseillaise  in  German  fraktur,  or 
the  Ode  to  a  Grecian  Urn  in  French  l^lack-letter.  Then,  too, 
we  must  learn  to  know  where  modern  type-forms  stand  in 
reference  to  earlier  tvpe-forms,  if  we  are  not  to  give  undue 
importance  to  various  modern  types;  just  as  we  must  know 
where  the  earliest  tvpes  stand  in  reladon  to  the  manuscripts 


GERMANY:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY       59 

which  preceded  them.^  It  was  Benjamin  Franklin  who  said: 
"A  Calf  is  a  Big  Beast,  until  you  see  a  Cow !" 

This  detailed  historical  study  of  type-forms  is  of  such 
practical  value,  that  I  do  not  hesitate  to  inflict  it  upon  the 
reader,  although,  before  he  has  finished,  he  will  no  doubt 
wonder  where  he  is  "coming  out ;"  and  wonder,  too,  if  there 
be  no  shorter  way  of  arriving  at  this  knowledge. 

Less  than  thirty-five  years — from  1454  to  1487  —  cov- 
ered the  spread  of  printing,  as  we  now  know  the  process, 
throughout  Europe.  The  dates  at  which  it  was  introduced 
into  the  various  countries  were  as  follows:  about  the  year 
1454  in  Germany;  in  1465  in  Italy;  in  1468  in  Switzerland; 
in  1470  in  France;  in  1473  in  Holland  —  if  we  except  the 
Speculum  and  "Costeriana,"  M'hich  were  executed  before 
that  time;  in  Belgium  in  1473;  Austria-Hungary,  1473; 
Spain,  1474;  England,  1477;  Denmark,  1482;  Sweden, 
1483;  and  Portugal,  1487. 

The  type-forms  used  in  the  fifteenth  century  fall  into 
two  classes:  Gothic  (a  corrupt  national  following  of  the 
Carolingianminuscule),whichwas  used  earliest,  and  Roman 
(a  fairly  faithful  return  to  the  Carolingian  minuscule),  which 

*  As  a  study  in  "comparative  typography,"  it  is  useful  to  see  how  the  same 
book  was  printed  at  different  periods,  and  any  student  who  will  select  an  early 
and  famous  book,  like  the  Inferno  or  Decameron,  in  a  first  edition,  and  com- 
pare successive  editions  with  it,  will  find  that  the  different  editions  furnish 
almost  a  history  of  typography .  Tlie  more  characteristically  national  the  book, 
the  better  it  is  for  pm-poses  of  comparison  of  styles  in  the  national  typography 
which  it  represents.  But  in  comparing  the  printing  of  various  countries,  it  is 
better  for  the  student  to  choose  a  classic  which  belongs  to  the  literature  of 
them  all  —  like  the  texts  of  Horace,  Virgil,  or  Cicero.  In  this  way  one  may 
study  typography  both  ' '  perpendicularly  ' '  and  ' '  horizontally  ' '  —  perpen- 
dicularly, where  we  take  a  given  book  of  an  early  date  and  trace  its  progress 
chronologically;  and  horizontally,  where  we  look  at  its  editions  in  various 
countries  at  the  same  epoch.  The  special  collections  of  the  works  of  a  particu- 
lar author,  found  in  most  large  libraries,  are  veiy  illuminating  when  used  in 
this  way. 


60  PRINTING  TYPES 

came  in  later.  By  Gothic,  the  mediaeval  text  or  hlack-letter 
is  always  meant} 

Fifteenth  century  Gothic  type-forms  may  be  roughly 
subdivided  into  Pointed,  sometimes  called  lettre  de  forme; 
Round,  sometimes  called  lettre  de  somme,  and  a  vernacular 
Cursi\"e  black-letter,  like  the  French  lettre  batarde.  Although 
our  examples  are  the  English  lettre  de  fomne  {fig-  8),  and 
the  French  lett?-e  de  somme  {fig.  9)  and  lettre  batarde  {fig.  lO), 
they  show  the  characteristics  of  these  types  sufficiently 
for  our  purpose.  These  three  type-forms  were  the  black- 
letter  equivalents  of  the  formal,  less  formal,  and  cursive 
manuscript-hands  of  the  Roman  period.  Between  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Gothic  type-families  of  the  fifteenth  century 
there  is  the  same  likeness  that  appears  in  the  manuscripts 
of  the  period  immediately  before  the  invention  of  printing; 
and,  too,  much  the  same  divergencies. 

Roman  forms  of  type  of  this  period  may  be  divided  into 
Transitional  (from  Gothic  to  Roman)  and  pure  Roman,  the 
precursor  of  the  types  we  now  commonly  use. 

The  first  type  employed  in  Germany  was  a  gothic  or  black- 
letter  character.  The  earliest  dated  piece  of  printing  from 
German  gothic  type  known  is  the  Letters  of  Indulgence, 
issued  at  Mainz  in  1454.  This  indulgence  was  granted  by 
Pope  Nicholas  V  to  all  Christians  who,  during  three  years 
preceding,  had  given  money  to  help  on  the  ^var  against  the 
Turks.  The  agents  who  sold  manuscript  copies,  which  were 
brought  out  in  the  early  months  of  the  same  year  (1454), 
apparently  had  heard,  meanw  hile,  of  printing,  and  recog- 
nized its  utility  for  producing  leaflets  of  this  sort  in  quantity. 

'  Wliat  is  called  "gothic"  by  type-founders  has  no  relation  to  any  Gothic 
style;  and  is  purely  an  arbitrary  name — unless  it  hints  at  the  artistic  abili- 
ties of  its  inventors.  It  is  nothing  but  a  diagram  of  a  letter — all  qualities  of 
design  having  been  left  out. 


Domine  omnipotens,  Deu0  patrum  nogtrorum 
atitabam,  et  Isaac  ct  31acotJ,  et  seminis  eorum  imtU 
quifecisti  coelumet  terrain  cum  omniornatu  eorum; 
qui  ligasti  maretiertJO  praecepti  tui;  qui  conclu0i0ti 
atjpssum,  et  0ignasti  eam  terribili  et  lauUabili  no= 
mine  tuo;  quem  omma  parent  et  tremunt  a  tJuItu 
tJirtutis  tuae,  quia  importabills  egt  magnificentia 
gloriae  tuae,  et  in^ustentaftilis  ira  comminationis 
tuae  super  peccatores;  immenga  tiero  et  imoestiga' 

8.  Lettre  de  Forme 

©omtnc  omnipotcn0,  ©cua  patrum  nootronim  abraljam,  ct  Ueaac  ct  Jacob,  ct 
eeminie  corum  j'usti,  qui  fccisti  coclum  ct  tcrram  cum  omni  ornatu  corum;  qui 
ligacti  mare  verbo  praccpti  tui;  qui  conclusieti  abfsoum,  ct  aiguaaii  cam  tcr// 
ribili  ct  laudabili  nomiuc  tuo;  qucm  omnia  pavcut  et  tremunt  a  vultu  virtutie 
tua',  quia  importabilia  cat  magnificcntia  gloria:  tua:,  ct  inouotcntabilie  ira  com// 
minationi©  tu«  super  pcccatorco;  immcnea  vcro  et  inveotigabilio  niiscricordia 
promi00ioni0  tux:  quoniam  tu  cs  Pominu©,  altissimuo,  bcnignuo,  longamtuie, 
ct  multum  misericord,  et  i^xnitcne  super  malitias  Ijominum.  %\x,  ©omine, 
secundum  multitudincm  bonitatis  tua:  promisisti  pccnitentiam  ct  remiscioncm 
iis,  qui  peccavcrunt  tibi,  ct  multitudinc  miscrationum  tuarum  dccrcvisti  pocni// 
tentiam  peccatoribus  in  salutcm.  Xu  igitur,  pomine  JDeus  fustorum,  non  posu// 
isti  pccnitentiam  fustis,  abral?am,  ct  3saac  ct  5acob,  iis,  qui  tibi  non  peccavc// 
runt;  scd  posuisti  panitcntiam  propter  me  peccatorcm,  quoniam  pcccavi,  super 

9.  Lettre  de  Somme 

€>omtne  omtripotene,  €>eu6  ^aityim  xKo^ttotmw  Mta^am^ 
et  Jeaac  et  3aco6,  eteeminie  cot:um  jueti,  qui  fecieti  cccCnm 
et  tettam  cum  omni  omatn  eorum;  qui  figaeti  mate  vctBo 
ptxcepti  tiii]  qui  concCneieti  a6p66um,  et  ei^naeti  eam 
tettiBiii  et  fau5a6ifi  nomine  tuo-^quem  omnia  paventet  ttef 
mnnt  a  vnUn  vittutie  tua*,  quia  impottabiCie  eet  masnifu 
centia  siovim  tnx^  et  inmetentaBitie  iva  comminationie 
tnx  enpet  peccatovee;  immenea  veto  et  inveeti^abifHe 
mieeticovbia  ptomieeionie  tn-^ :  quoniam  tu  ee  Oominue, 
aitieeimm)  6eni^nue,  Con^aminief  et  muftum  mieecicore, 

10.  Lettre  Batarde 


GERMANY:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY        61 

So  they  ordered  copies  of  the  Indulgence  in  two  styles  :  one 
set  in  30-line  form,  of  which  there  were  three  issues — one 
in  1454  and  two  in  1455  {Jig.  1 1),  the  other  in  31  lines,  of 
which  four  issues  are  known  —  three  dated  1454  and  one 
1455  {Jig.  12).  The  gothic  tj^pe  was  of  two  sizes  :  the  larger 
and  more  pointed  being  used  for  head -lines  and  important 
words,  and  a  smaller,  rounder  type  for  the  text.  Blanks  were 
left  to  be  filled  in  with  names,  etc.  In  the  30-Iine  Letter  of  In- 
dulgence^ this  larger  character  appears  to  be  the  type  used 
in  the  36-Iine  Bible,  printed  not  later  than  1461,  at  Mainz 
{Jig.  13).  The  larger  type  in  the  31 -line  Indulgence  is  very 
much  like  that  used  in  the  42-line  Bible  commonly  ascribed 
to  Gutenberg,  but  printed,  perhaps,  by  Fust  and  Schoeffer 
at  Mainz  about  1455^  {Jig-  l^').  This  book,  which  it  took 
several  years  to  complete,  was  in  process,  it  is  supposed,  at 
the  time  the  Indulgences  were  printed.  Nothing  can  be  more 
pointed  or  Gothic  than  this  large  black-letter  Bible  type 
copied  from  the  German  manuscriptsof  the  period.  It  is  the 
characteristic  form  of  the  earliest  gothic  type-letter  of  Ger- 
many.^ The  Germans  called  this  kind  of  letfre  de  Jorme 

^Facsimiles  from  Early  Printed  Books  in  the  British  Museum,  London, 
1897,  facs.  3,  4,  which  show  Indulgences  in  complete  form. 
'  Burger's  A/oTzumeTzto   Germanise   et  Italise   Typogra/ihica,  Berlin,  1913, 
pi.  137,  for  facsimile  of  entire  page  with  rubrication. 

Facsimiles  of  the  types  used  in  incunabula  are  contained  in  the  Catalogue 
of  Books  firinted  in  the  XVth  Century  nmv  in  the  British  Museum.  The  Li- 
brary of  the  British  Museum  contains  about  nine  thousand  books  printed 
before  1500.  The  work  is  to  be  completed  in  six  parts,  and  four  parts  are  now 
published:  I,  Xylographica  and  books  printed  with  types  at  Mainz,  Sti-ass- 
burg,  Bamberg,  and  Cologne  (with  29  plates  showing  240  types)  .H,  Germany: 
EJtvil  to  Trier  (30  plates  showing  254  types).  Ill,  Germany:  Leipzig-Pforz- 
heim, German-speaking  Switzerland  and  Austria-Hungary  (l8  plates  show- 
ing 1 75  types)  .  IV,  Italy:  Subiaco  and  Rome  (13  plates  showing  110  tyjies)  . 
The  facsimiles  in  most  cases  give  only  a  few  lines  of  type;  so,  as  its  intro- 
duction admits,  "  those  who  would  know  the  glories  of  early  printing  must 
consult  Burger's  Monumenta .'' '  But  it  can  be  used  where  Burger  is  deficient 
or  not  available. 
^ Paleografihie  Latine,  1910,  pis.  104,  111. 


62  PRINTING  TYPES 

"textur"  —  because  the  effect  of  a  page  set  in  it  was  like  a 
tissue  or  weave.  It  afterward  was  simplified  into  the  type 
called  "fraktur."  The  smaller  type  of  the  Indulgences,  which 
is  a  rounder  black-letter,  has  certain  peculiarities  later  found 
in  "schwabacher"  fonts  {Jigs.  11  and  12). 

A  book  which  shows  clearly  the  form  of  the  early  gothic 
types  of  Germany  is  the  famous  Latin  Psalter  printed  by 
Fust  and  Schoeffer  at  Mainz,  August  14,  1457  —  the  first 
book  to  which  the  printers  put  their  names  and  date  of 
publication.  This  monumental  volume  shows  a  larger  letter 
than  the  42-line  Bible,  but  of  much  the  same  pointed  Gothic 
form '  {Jjg.  1 5).  The  famous  decorated  initials  were  probably 
stamped  in  after  the  pages  were  printed,  one  stamping  be- 
ing used  for  the  blue  and  the  other  for  the  red  impression. 

The  same  sort  of  letter  is  shown  in  a  Missal  printed  at 
Bamberg  by  Sensenschmid  in  1488,  in  type  a  size  between 
that  of  the  Mainz  Psalter  and  the  42-line  Bible."  There  are 
other  examples  much  like  it,  such  as  the  Missale  Salisburg- 
ej2se  printed  at  Nuremberg  by  Stuchs  in  1492,"*  and  the 
Mainz  printer  Neumeister's  edition  of  Turrecremata's  Jl/c-flf- 
itafionesof  1479.*  These  all  show  the  pointed,  angular  black- 
letter  of  Germany,  the  earliest  form  of  type  used  there.  The 
larger  types  of  this  kind  were  generally  intended  for  folio 
volumes  used  in  the  officesof  the  Church  ;  some  of  the  char- 
acters which  appear  in  the  Bamberg  Missal  of  1481^  being 
almost  three-quarters  of  an  inch  high.  Such  volumes  are 
rough  in  execution  compared  with  manuscripts,  yet  never- 
theless magnificent  in  effect. 

'  Druckschriften  des  XV  bis  XVIII  Jahrhunderts,  Berlin,  Reichsdruckerei, 

1884-87,  pis.  61,  62,  63. 

*  Ibid.,  pi.  25.  "Burger,  pi.  117.  'Ibid.,  pi.  76. 

Rid.,  pi.  105.  The  right-hand  plate  shows  a  reproduction  of  part  of  the 
Canon  of  the  Mass.  Its  ordinary  pages  are  printed  in  a  type  much  more 
Italian  or  Spanish  than  German  in  character,  and  of  different  design. 


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fill?  tint  mm  5  am  tram  Hii^ 
Duirs;l&  au^iutt  iuDadnrut^ 
regit  tpt  1  ixitto  poitctt  uinu'' 
tm  t|cixituu  regie :  qur  mmt 
m  aiiimau  «|n)t)ut  tnt  Dirprc^ 
fuo  teat  Jimitus  a  raftcio  ♦  B 
mm  got^as  rraflm  htle  not- 
turtr  nrnim!  inumiM.^  qum- 
bat  me  itt  montibK  m  Wt: 
f ugiut  i|ti  a  nobie  *  Ik  turn  Dt^ 
ofaitus  rCTctatiiarutttutias 
in  lampi  til  tdb>  mtUbmiroi^ 
tantiitqui  tccrumfta  %  glaiJio^ 
non  babrtiat'i^  nitrtilt  rato 
gtittiu  oaliDatrt  lontatuQ  %  v 
quitatue  iniircuttu  rorilttr  iin 
todi  ai)  prdiu^f^  ait  iuDae  m> 
ris  qui  rtcu  ecat*  ^t  tinmrati^ 

13.  Type  of  SQ-line  Bihle^  Mainz^  not  later  them  1461 


jCuotr  tu  auuifla  ijauiiKtEfcmiiit  in 
prtfciim.^tliliftiitn  autan  umimtcs 
Diffufli  funt  in  ualle  rapljaim.  Jft  ta* 
fuluit  UauiU  Dnm  0itEtt0.3>i  aftmiB 
an  p!;ilt&i|ra«£t  fi  tiabis  tos  i  ntanu 
rata  iit  tmt  Une  au  Dauiij.  jMimte: 
ifattateno  Uabo  piiiliBtim  in  mann 
tua.Btnit  Kffo  iianiij  aD  tealp^ara* 
fnnrn:  jpffcuffit  job  ibi  n  timMniin 
tim  inimiros  mtos  rora  nit:fitut  tiu 
uiijuntaqut^ropttita  uoratu  cno* 
mtn  (oriiHi?  baalptjarafnn.ift  rdiq* 
runt  ibi  fnilptilia  fuatq  mlit  tauiD  tt 
uiri  ri?.  ft  auuiixtunt  auiiut  pj^ilifti* 
im  nt  altmijctentrtt  Difftifli  Et  i  xalte 
rapbaim-lEofuluit  auteiiauiu  tntm. 
5)1  aftmija  tott a  pljilifttosn  ttaija'' 
£06  in  manu0  inras^lDm  rnijit.  jRo 
aftrnDas  rotra  too  ftti  gira  pafl:  ttcgu 
roru:^  umits  aD  ros  aabufo  piroru. 
jEt  ru  auijiccio  ronitQ  riainnris  tfta* 
ijimoiratunmpiroi^tutinibisplm: 
qa  tur  tgtcaicf  tino  ate  Farit  wa:  ut  5* 

14.  Ti/pe  of42-Ihie  Bible,  Mainz,  c.  1455 


jgiref  uftinr,  oi| 
tt  lronartr,oi| 

OmfsfanAcoftr 
foz^.ozatejnoli 
Qmra  fti'lftona' 
r^ii  l)tm«m,o:ate 
jgfra  maia  inagS« 

ii^i    111       AV     W)  w  o 

0^ 


15.  Type  used  in  Latin  Psalter:  Fust  and  Schoeffer 
MaiTiz,  1457 


GERMANY:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY       63 

Koberger  of  Nuremberg  used,  about  1480,  a  type  less 
pointed  than  the  first  gothic  types,  reminding  one  a  little  of 
the  early  black-letter  types  of  Italyand  Spain. The  reproduc- 
tion here  shown  {Jig.  16)  is  interesting  not  only  for  its  type 
but  because  it  is  an  example  of  one  of  the  earliest  advertis- 
ing circulars.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  printers  and  book- 
sellers who  did  business  in  a  large  way  put  agents  "on  the 
road"  with  a  stock  of  their  books,  and  circulars  for  distri- 
bution. This  particular  sheet  advertised  a  theological  work 
by  Antoninus,  Archbishop  of  Florence,  and  its  writer,  after 
praising  literature  in  general,  says  that,  theology  being  the 
crown  of  all  sciences,  the  author  wrote  this  monumental 
Smnma  Theologica;  that  until  then,  readers  could  not  afford 
to  buy  the  expensive  manuscripts  of  the  work,  and  printers, 
owing  to  its  enormous  length,  had  been  afraid  to  publish  it. 
But  at  last  its  printing  had  been  accomplished  by  Koberger 
and  the  "long-felt  want  "(sacred  to  advertisements)  had  been 
filled !  Quite  in  the  modern  manner,  it  is  stated  that  the  ad- 
vertisement is  printed  in  the  same  type  as  the  book,  and  that 
if  any  one  wishes  to  buy  the  volume,  he  can  do  so  at  a  cer- 
tain inn,  where  the  agent  has  lodgings.  So  it  would  appear 
that  travelling  salesmen  and  book  canvassers  are  no  new 
thing !  ^ 

Besides  the  pointed  gothic  type,  or  lettre  deforme^  used  in 
Germany,  there  was  a  rounder  gothic  type  known  as  lettre 
desomme.'  Examples  are  to  be  seen  in  the  Mainz  Catholicon^ 
printed  probably  by  Gutenberg,  in  1460  {fig.  17),  and  in 
the  Rationale  Divinonim  Officiorum  by  Durandus,  printed 

'  For  reproductions  of  similar  early  advertisements,  see  Burger's  Buchhdnd- 
leranzeigen  des\5 .  Jahrhunderts .  Leipsic,1907.  The  earliest  printed  book  ad- 
vertisement known  is  that  of  Heinrich  Eggestein  of  Strassburg,  issued  in  1466. 
'  The  lettre  de  somme  is  said  (without  much  authority)  to  derive  its  name 
from  the  Summa  of  St. Thomas  Aquinas,  for  which,  as  well  as  for  other  scho- 
lastic works,  it  was  early  employed. 


64  PRINTING  TYPES 

bv  Fust  and  Schoeffer  in  1459/ The  lettre  de  somme  was 
copied  from  less  studied  and  formal  book-hands,  and  was  less 
massi\e  in  efiect  than  the  pointed  lettre  de  forme.  For  con- 
venience it  may  be  called  a  "round  gothic  type."  In  a  sense 
this  letter-form  was  transitional,  for  by  extending  its  design 
a  little  further  toward  modern  ideas  of  clearness,  a  resem- 
blance exists  bet\Aeen  this  round  gothic  type  of  the  Catholi- 
con  and  the  gothicized  roman  invented  by  those  German 
printers  who  became  influenced  by  Italian  models. 

In  addition  to  pointed  and  round  black-letter  types,  Ger- 
man printers  had  a  vernacular  type  —  intended  primarily 
for  printing  books  in  German  —  later  commonly  known  as 
"schwabacher."  Some  elements  of  this  type  maybe  seen  in 
Koberger's  German  Bible  printed  at  Nuremberg  in  1483, 
in  which  we  find  the  looped  b,  d,  h,  1,  the  tailed  f  and  s,  etc., 
characteristic  of  schwabacher  fonts."  We  may  see  it  em- 
ployed in  a  form  which  is  clearly  different  from  the  pointed 
fraktur,  in  Peter  Schoeffer's  Hortus  Sanitatis  {Jig.  18), 
printed  at  Mainz  in  1485.  It  flowered  into  the  type  now  re- 
cognizable as  schwabacher  in  the  last  decade  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  Although  intended  for  books  in  German,  it  was 
used  for  many  Latin  books  as  well. 

Thus  in  the  fifteenth  century  there  was  a  tendency  in 
German  gothic  types  toward  the  forms  of  letter  which  we 
associate  with  German  text  of  to-day  —  a  tendency  show- 
ing itself  in  German  manuscripts  very  early  and  persist- 
ently. Andreae's  Baum  der  Gesippschaft^  issued  at  Augsburg 
by  Johann  Baemler  in  1474,  was  printed  in  a  pointed  letter 
which  shows  a  form  distinctly  German  as  we  now  under- 
stand the  term  {Jig.  19).  This  is  markedly  shown,  too,  in 
the  rounder  type-forms  employed  in  Koberger's  German 

^  Druckachriflen,  pi.  41 ;  or  Burger,  pi.  7o. 
'  Burger,  pi.  20. 


Cupiete0cmerchb:o6infranotatO6DCti<cnt  ad  bofpO 
du5fubnotatumJ3encIito:embabitunlargiffimuni. 

€om  plurimop  pBop  fnCa  rit.oCbue  in  actonite  maio:c  cura  abbibedl  elT^.tt  oice 
Upetuitate  pflarc  pofTim'' :  ad  bac  qui&e  p&qndo4Ubet  mo:tali8  txnct  totxQ  x>\tv 
bu0infudarc.€ldet  alTcq  pofle.a  nfi9  maiozito  crebitQ  e.-fi  fingfia  mebitatDniba 
ogibufqs  bonefti  fo:a  accuratiflTimc  pponaf  .•feed  in  bmoi  pUmau  affectonu  gene 
a  nonuUis  illullrto  oirie.buiufccmoi  gfa  bwerfo  calle  qfita  cft.na;  ab  alije  pBia 
nafaUe.DC  platoc  et  areftoKleralijamojal'.  ot  renecamonulUe  poemata.ut  fama ' 
c  te  bomero  n  wrgiUo:plerifq3  coa  eloqntia.Dt  bemoflenc  n  cicerone.  AUjs  tO  etK 
bie.ti)  puerfaDie  aDmiftrabifq}  legito.Dt  legtf  tx  Ugurto.folone.ettra^ano  impa^ 
tmernecno  tx  iuftiniano.q  pfufuj  tuna  co:p'^  in  luce  rebu)cit.q  reductoe  gplurea 
ittnrc6fulti.mte  ppetuita^  pfe^arbitrati  fut:oeluti  €luit''muti'».  paurolpian''. 
mfticp  pttrea  qa  logii  ect  recefcrcQcp  q:  tbcologia  Ucra  oim  fciap  co:ona  e:ma 
yrimc  circa  materia  q  ejngit  canoito  legibufue  fulcita.  Cluib?  cm  pftcit  bo  ft  natu< 
rali.poeft.eloqntia  fug  3ftrauolita6:fi  opicitotJf  ufcp  iurie  biuitiae  pgregetretia 
fi  Dniuerfu  mdm  lucre?  laia  60  fui  Cetrimctii  patiaf  f  S)i  j;pm  fciscait  mcllifluua 
toctozXatia  c.et  fi  cetera  nefcia.Ciuo  pmof^oir  pftUop  clariffim'';  biia  Antonin'^ 
dim  caufa^  romaefebiapitilTim'';  temuarcbiepa  flo:etin'^.!feiima  egregia  i  qtu 
o:  ptea  biftincta  pgefiic:  q  ut  oere  oite  gpetuitatt  pfcq  facile  poITem''.  parte  pri^ 
macreatD:i8imenfita^.crcafeq3buanenobilitatE.afq3  ne  abealabozci:  biuiale 
gc  fulcita j)du)cit.g?ecuba  ptecrimiofaa  enozmitatea  ql»  bo  a  fua  nobilitate  etiaj 
bobie  labif  ♦•fubiupit.'Cercia  pte  ftatito  uniuerfop  facmetalia  remebia  qto  qlibec 
reftitueref  :pfcripfit.6t4rtapte  ne  recidiuii  paceref  pfuatiua  fitutii.gfap  <jbo 
nop  fpulTctircoabiupit.et  qz  fapictirTimo  telle  4  abbit  fciamrabbit  1  laboze.pfce 
tete  rriti  magno  fiiptu  q  i  ppabia  nolumibo  impcbeb'^erat,  otio  aut  ignauie  tcbu 
ti.oel ab  alia  fe  poti'^opa  traftuleft.duop  tante  nccitati;  fme buano  artificio:fi^ 
we biuia ope  fubuecii  e;Dt  iuenta  ni^a  ecate bac  ipzimebi  trap  facilitate. plencp fe 
ftubija  tedicariit;q  puo  fiiptu  pfima  lib:op  i)olumia:b:eui  tpe  piitee.i  oiroa  da* 
ro9  euabe  nitunf  .6t  q-uie  13  be  magno  uoluminii  nuero  p  bap  Ifap  impffozeep^ 
fice  uoletiii  ncfitatipuifu  fit:nC'0  tii  cop  ib  nouilTimu  Cq6  q:  mobernii  1  otilimfi) 
op'^ejcltegroaggre(re;bct?jTitiCt>topino:)magna  cobicuclfap  mftitubCe.  <\c^ 
uoluecea  igif  boc  i  aio.tbeologie  facre  quit6  alumni.f  ej  fatifdigna.«7  tan^  nouia 
mozbia.nouiaatibotia  necelTaria.bac  Ifap  effigiecbaractcrisataop'^  pfectiiicoz 
rcctu  biligeter  eppUcarut.^luare  ooletea  C  futpi'^agnitDejjficere.'z  faluti^pimop 
falub:itBr  pfulere;omi  conamie  curare  bebec  bmoi  fiima  Antonina  k  pence  bfe. 
Cupifttfcp  fibi  pparc  ab  bofpitiu  fefc  recipiat  fu  bfcriptu  Bcbitwe  bitur  i  bcmgnui 

JntbeoloGia  ^ermonee 

feiimaj  Antonini  egregia  tn qtuo:  Difcipulum  te  tem^  *?  fanctt'6  per 

5te9birtinct4.t)t  fup:a  claret.  totum  annum, 

pantbeologia  id  e  tota  tbeologia.  lOugoncj  be  Drato  per  totu  annu. 

e^ibliaa  amcniflime  impflaa.  TLconbardu  be  ^tino  be  fanctia. 

©lofam  o:binari33  petri  ILombar  fiiuabragefimale  leobarbi  6  otino. 

bi  fuper  pfalterio.  €luab:agefimalcgritfcb  benuoco: 

fepecula  omcencijqudttto:.  rectufib£rlitq?ipnu5boctonee)cim(j 

'^tem  Slitafpacrum  23ocabul3nu  Sjalomonia 

^uma  pifani  afe  pifanella  Docciu  te  confolatone  pbic 

ft)ecunba  fccuntK  beati  Tbcme.  ^SivJTl^^L, 

16.  Advertisement  issued  by  Koberger^  Nuremberg^  c.  1480 
(^reduced) 


cipicbAt.aii  tAmen  iOtrm  ^vp^cra  Oidr.rionnc  coi* 
mcu  in  pfcnti  crat  qn  rtJufus  eft-  bomo  aizro  fuo 
in  ocriurtim  tibi.  (Tpofirq?  a?  ^bcciG  tci^ibuftrac 
tauJmuo.trlVdt  uroc  nioois  cius  ct  qujjlitdtibno 
aliquA  Dinrcmmus.Opinme  qvpc  .^^bcdc  ncc  fern 
pel  ncc  coocm  modo  ^bcre  animu  rAntjir.Aliqn 
cnim  f]3intU0  ,vpbcdc  ex  plonti  tancpt  animuj  ,p 
pbctanrirct  ex  futuro  ncquacy  ta»7<jit  aliqn  ucyo 
^bcdc  rpirimranimu  ^bcranrifcx  fUmm  tan 
gjt.ct  ex  j5rcnri  non  tan(jit,aljqvi  ^pbcrantio  am 
mil  ex  pfonh  paritcr  ct  ex  hituro  ran(pt.aliquan 
to  autem  ex  prcriro  ct  ex  pfcnti  dtqj  ex  fictiino. 
jjjter  animufrantji?  <vpl^^rantio. aliqn  ucro  pro 
pbcde  rpirituG  ex  j5trrim  ta»?5it  animu^  ncc  ran 
^r  ex  hituro, Aiiqvi  noro  ^bcric  fpmtus  ran 51 1 
ex  futuro  ncc  ran  git  ex  j5teiirD./lliqn  wcra  jn  p 
(cnti  ex  ptc  ran^it  ct  ex  gte  non  tangjit./lliquart 
to  ucro  rpintwe  ^bcac  m  htturo  ex  gte  tangpt 
ct  ex  ptc  non  tangit.ltcj  fcias  q>  ^bctx?  quioaj 
ex  tpximo  tan<junm2  atc^  c  lon(5inq  minimc  ran 
Q^ntur.quiDam  ue»t>  eangimt  elonajinquo  ct  no 
tanqi(n(tir  ex  ^ximo.qujoam  ucro  ct  c  longpnq 
tan^unFct  ex  <pximo.C|'^l>q»i  AUtc^  pmpbcdc 
rpiritus  «i¥>^<^*»5  Occfb  nee  fcmi3  eo2;  mcntib^  pn?f 
to  cnr.qtinuroi  bunc  non  bnt  (e.buc  co^no/canC 
cx  Cone  baberc  ai  babenr.vnDc  bclijeurol  Rente 
funamitc  mulicnym  a  fuis  pcoibus  p  ^eji  puz;  a 
uclli  ^bibcrcr  oixir  Oimittr  illa.anima  cnij  eiuft 
jn  amarituoinc  eft"  ct  Cominwrcclauit  me  ct  non 
inDic\uit  n)icbi.7rem  amoQ.qz  caocm  bora  qua 
wquifitus  cfir  ^bcdc  fibi  fjp'nitum  ocelTc  fcnfir  OJ 
fs  Mcraater  oixit.Uon  fum  ^pbcra.uc  Dixi  in  ar 
tncntum.Sic  quoqj  oi  iolcpbat  cc  ?utu.m  rcqni 
rcret.ct  ^bcdc  ei  fpintus  cecnTcc  pflxltc  Fcdt  ap 
pUcari  ut  propbcdc  ao  bunc  rpiiittio  pcz  lauarm 
pfalmooic  OefccnDcrct  atqj  ciuranimum  ar  iientu 
ris  rcplcrct.vox  ctenim  pfalmoDic  cCi  p  intcnco 
ncm  cDJOis  aijif.p  banc  omniporcnti  ao  cor  iccr 

17.  Round  Gothic  Type  of  Catholkon:  Gutenberg- 
Mainz,  1460 


Ccamia  S;itim*stccc  dpm^^ataSicc  ^mc"  JQct  mtiffcv 
(Ba^icnm  intern*  vt|»^uc^5C!mitt  funpftciS  fatmacatiu  in 
^ccapitc^€iptm*ib  eft  d^camia  (ptic^t  bap  *?if?  fy  cin  Saiint 
hc^voc^fct  ^ynbct^cm  mcvc vB  m  Cict^ta*vnb  bi^  SCcttct vn  ^Po/ 
incnnuncttnantn'ittatmcy  ^n'icmBnc^citcainftan^  ^f^ti 
^n  vn^^ic  mdftcv  vn  fprcc^Cft  bc^'^tc^  ^mmt^  f<\Jft  vicf  (Tat  in  ctci/ 
vx<t*ibit  {t^i^cn  pwftj^tifctrcft  bit  bTcttct  vn  ^^omm  x>n  f^icPcn  ba^ 

ba&  ma^  man  vtcPi^re  &^aft:en:  vnwaftta  an  {yntt  naxxxct  ibcc 
tttciflo:  P4w?it0  paitbccm  vn  pPatcanwtJ  in  ?cm  capiteP  Ik^amia 
jprcc^cn  6a^$  6i^  (p  faG:  ^n^ctn  ix\lm^at  vn  bmcPcit  an^bc  attfait^ 
cc^  anbmx^xat^*  Qcvopto  fptic^t  6a$  6i^  pitCucr^u^  fr  ^cn  6rc 
^0  ^a^n  (tKoPiim  bmJ  (y  nt  w  j?)^  ^^atttx^yn  in  6cm  ttiu6c»  3  tc  bi^ 
pttfoct:sc(<>ttcnmit^t(]^enwa(]et  vttb^eflrtc^cnwo  ftc^  cynctQc/ 
Stant^ait  ^n^tvtc^^it^  v^*4bie  vcr^attcn  cfftebbcr  o6ct  t^ctfetitteiT 
1)0  mitsc(lvt<^cn  obcvQcfx&ct  mai^ct  ftc  xvctc^  vnb  ^Pictftc^*  'iDnb 
J>i(|e  (^e  fa^aifo  Sctcytwcvbcn*  XXytn  ^ai^m$&y  a&  vic^bn  void: 
Tn  mijc§cT<tt  vitber^c^  pu&tcte  adzamic  pVatcatin^  fptic^t^a^ 
^ftamia  ^a^  a^c  bocfent  in  )?m  bic^an  ^ait  fancfut^  6mconi^«  vn 
roan  man  nit  ^a&n  ma^  a^camiam  f>  ma^  man  an  fyn  fiat  ncmctt 

18.  Type  prefiguring  Schivahacher :  Peter  Schoeffer^  Mainz^  1485 


tDcn  bc^on  Icibetbcn  abgcftotbcn  ift/ctbcnb  [tin  \>attcz  vnl 
niutct-t>rt  mbtz  voz^axm  ob  bic  aliayn  wtlc^benb  aup  na 
\)m  bc^gtab/bn^attc^X)Otbemanbenn  obj^ibatb  jnlcbci 
\»ctcrt  ?Onb  bie  in  glcic^citi  grab  fctnb  etbenb  gelcicl)/bte  va 
tctltd)cn  l)alb  \)nb  bic  mute^licl)en  {)alb/t^ic  wol  it  ^al  x)ngc- 
Icid)  ift>.Cb  abet  mit  ben  vo^gemelten  t^o^faren  voz  \)annbti 
I  tveten  bts  abgeftotben  celi^  leiplic!)  btiebet/von  vattet  t)f 
mutee  /bte  etbten  mitfamp  t  vattet  vnb  mutee/jr  ^eglidjs  aU 
I  \)il  als  bas  amboz  /on  wbeefcljaib  bes  gefcJ)led)t5  xmb  vat  - 
I  tetlicl)et  ^<tcoaUfamxn. 

(ll^effante 
3fl)an  toebet  auff ftet'genb  vozfaztn/no^  ab|te%enb  leibs  cc  - 
ben  voz  I)annben  femb-©o  etbenb  311  etft/bet  brubet  \)nb  bes 
abgcftotben  btu$  Knb/anjts  vattets  (tat^Oee  btu§/fag  idy 
x>nb  btilbets  Pmb/bievon  vautz  vnb  muti^z^b^  brieber  ge== 
toefen  femb/bes  etbfcl)afft  x^oz  })amb<^n  ift.xoellid)  perfone^ 

19.  Pointed  Gothic  Type:  Baemler^  Augsburg^  1474 


GERMANY:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY        65 

Bible  just  mentioned,  or  in  his  Nuremberg  Chronicleo^  1493,^ 
which  are  easily  recognized  as  German  in  feeling  {Jig.  20). 
By  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  and  through  the  six- 
teenth century,  two  thoroughly  German  forms  of  text  letter 
had  developed  from  the  earlier  and  purer  German  black- 
letter  characters. 

But  all  the  type  used  in  Germany  was  not  of  Gothic 
form.  Fonts  of  roman  character  were  employed  there  by 
a  few  printers.  Mentelin,  the  first  Strassburg  printer,  used 
a  gothic  type  which  pointed  towards  roman  in  his  Biblia 
Latina,  finished  in  1460  {Jig.  2l).  But  the  font  of  the  "R 
Bizarre,"  as  it  is  often  called,  was  the  first  roman  letter  used 
in  Germany  {Jig.  22).  This  ungainly  roman  type  was  used 
by  Adolph  Rusch  of  Ingweiden  ("the  R  Printer"),  who 
printed  in  it  an  edition  of  the  Rationale  of  Durandus,  at 
Strassburg,  as  early  as  1464.  Rusch  married  a  daughter 
of  John  Mentelin,  and  to  his  business  he  later  succeeded. 
Other  roman  types  of  early  date  were  used  in  a  Speculum 
Historiale  printed  about  1473  by  Mentelin,^  and  at  Augs- 
burg in  1471  by  Zainer,  in  his  Lateinischer  Einhlattkalen- 
dar  for  1472,^  who  is  said  to  have  brought  this  font  from 
Italy.  The  'L2\x\^x  type  was  a  fairly  pure  roman  character, 
as  we  now  understand  the  term,  although  the  fitting  of  the 
type  on  its  body  is  rather  uncertain  in  effect.  Pollard  says 
that  but  ten  fonts  of  roman  were  known  to  him  as  employed 
in  Germany  before  1480.  Its  use  was  revived  in  the  last 
years  of  the  century,  when  the  accumulation  of  standard 
ancient  literature  (chiefly  by  foreign  authors  and  formerly 
available  only  through  manuscripts)  had  been  pretty  well  ex- 

^  Also  Burger,  pi.  258.  For  further  examples  see  Druckscliriften  des  XV  bis 

XVIIIJahrhunderts,  pis.  72,  53,35,  and  26,  of  books  dated  respectively 

1474,  1485,  1492,  and  1494. 

"  Druckschriftcn,  pi.  93;  or  Burger,  pi.  91. 

*  Burger,  pi.  1. 


66  PRINTING  TYPES 

hausted  by  printers.  Then  the  con temporar}- author  began  to 
appear,  and  roman  type  began  to  be  used  for  these  modern 
books  as  well  as  for  editions  of  the  classics.  In  Germany 
roman  type  is  still  called  "Antiqua"  in  allusion  to  its  classi- 
cal origin. 

There  were  also  semi-gothic  types  like  that  used  by 
Mentelin,  and  puzzling  transitional  roman-gothic  fonts,  of 
Mhich  an  interesting  example  is  that  used  by  Holle  at  Ulm 
in  1482  in  his  first  dated  book — the  Cosmographia  of 
Ptolemy  {fg.  23). 

The  German  fifteenth  century  press  A\as  conspicuous  for 
its  fine  editions  of  law  books  and  its  liturgical  printing,  in 
both  of  which  departments  Fust  and  Schoeffer  stood  first. 
Pictorial  and  decorative  capital  letters  were  used  by  many 
of  the  best  printers,  and  some  of  the  page-borders  used  in 
books  were  fine,  though  they  were  not  very  commonly  em- 
ployed. Large  sizes  of  type  were  cut,  no  doubt,  mainly  to 
save  the  expense  of  printing  in  two  colours  in  lines  needing 
to  be  "displayed"  —  as  in  the  Indulgences.  Printers  who 
used  roman  fonts  got  over  this  difficulty  by  picking  out 
"features"  of  their  books  in  lines  or  masses  of  roman  capital 
letters ;  but  massed  capitals  of  black-letter — the  type  chiefly 
employed  in  Germany — were  almost  unreadable.  This  was 
possibly  a  second  reason  for  large  sizes  of  types,  which  for 
purposes  of  convenience  were  ordinarily  made  double  the 
size  of  the  text  types  with  which  they  were  used.  One  reason 
that  the  books  of  the  earliest  Mainz  printers  had  such  an 
immediate  success  was  that  they  were  such  good  imitations 
of  the  manuscripts  with  w  hich  they  had  to  compete.  If  Ger- 
man scribes  and  illuminators  had  been  as  clever  as  those  of 
France  or  Italy,  the  divergence  between  books  and  manu- 
scripts would  have  offered  an  obstacle  to  their  sale.  But  this 
A\'as  not  so;  and  bv  a  happv  accident  the  German  manu- 


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amato^esmeosqui  oant  panes  micbi  ret  aquas 
meastana  mea  etlinu  jufu  oleu  meu  d^^potu 
men.  "proptbocecceejofepia  via  tua  fpinisr 

21.  Semi-Gothic  Type:  Mentelin,  Strassburg^  1460 


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GERMANY:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY       67 

scripts  of  that  day  lent  themselves  very  well  to  typographic 
rendering. 

The  sack  of  Mainz  in  1462  influenced  the  spread  of 
typography,  for  it  wiped  out  commerce  there,  and  the  con- 
sequent lack  of  money  led  printers,  \\ho  were  established 
in  a  kind  of  industrial  group,  to  scatter  widely.  This  ac- 
counts for  the  German  names  we  find  among  the  earliest 
printers  in  other  countries  throughout  Europe.  Where  these 
men  continued  to  work  in  Germany,  their  difficulties  were 
slight,  and  this  was  true  where  they  were  invited  to  set  up 
their  presses  in  some  foreign  place,  and  financial  support 
was  assured  them.  But  in  many  cases  the  wandering  printer 
had  to  take  his  chances  as  to  \\  here  he  might  find  employ- 
ment, and  to  travel  into  a  far  country  whose  language  was 
unfamiliar  to  him,  before  he  reached  an  apparently  favour- 
able spot  for  his  enterprise.  As  books  were  printed,  at  first, 
page  by  page,^  and  galley  proofs  were  unknown,  if  he  de- 
sired to  produce  a  large  book  with  any  speed,  a  number  of 
presses  would  be  required,  and  there  was  the  cost  of  other 
materials  to  be  counted.  So  a  good  deal  of  courage,  inge- 
nuity, and  financial  ability  to  see  the  undertaking  through 
\v9.s  needed,  if  he  was  to  succeed.  Even  then  it  was  very 
easy  to  make  mistakes  in  the  choice  of  books,  or  in  the  way 
they  were  printed,  and  either  error  might  lead  to  disaster. 
For  these  men  were  obliged  to  be  not  merely  printers,  but 
publishers ;  they  had  not  alone  to  make  their  books,  but  to 
sell  them. 

Such  printers  found  their  chief  customers  in  churches, 
monastic  libraries,  the  clergy,  teachers  and  their  students, 
lawyers,  doctors,  and  professors  of  philosophy;  and  there 
were,  too,  general  readers  and  educated  lovers  of  literature. 

*  It  was  not  until  between  1470  and  1480  that  two  pages  were  printed  at  the 
same  moment. 


68  PRINTING  TYPES 

For  monastic  libraries  printers  often  supplied  books  which 
may  be  classed  among  those  volumes  "which  no  gentle- 
man's library  should  be  without,"  and  which  so  few  gentle- 
men ever  read  !  Both  in  France  and  Germany,  many  printed 
service  books  were  required,  although  in  Italy  manuscripts 
for  some  time  held  their  own  as  the  more  orthodox  form  of 
liturgical  book.  "Helps  for  the  clergy,"  skeletons  of  sermons, 
etc.,  appealed  to  parish  priests,  and  law-books,  school-books, 
and  medical  treatises  also  had  their  market.  Then,  too,  there 
were  editions  of  the  classics  which  were,  however,  mostly 
produced  in  Italy  for  the  rest  of  Europe. 

As  we  have  to  do  chiefly  with  type,  the  kind  of  types 
which  these  printers  made  most  interests  us.  Mr.  Pollard, 
in  the  illuminating  paper  on  Early  Printers  with  which  he 
prefaces  the  catalogue  of  the  Annmary  Brown  Memorial 
library,^  tells  us  that  "At  first  there  were  special  church 
types  for  service-books  and  Bibles,  but  these  were  soon  re- 
served for  the  large  service-books  for  use  in  choir,  in  which 
the  type  was  necessarily  massive  and  clear,  both  to  avoid 
mistakes  in  reading  and  sometimes  also  to  enable  the  book 
to  be  shared  by  several  singers.  Save  for  a  few  experiments, 
roman  tj-pes  in  Italy  and  gothic  in  Germany  were  at  first 
used  for  books  of  all  kinds,  but  the  tendency  was  to  regard 
roman  as  specially  appropriate  to  editions  of  the  classics,  to 
use  upright  and  rather  plain  gothic  for  other  Latin  books, 
and  a  more  sloping  gothic  for  books  in  the  vernaculars.  .  .  . 
Besides  these  subject-divisions  of  types  the  local  schools  of 

*  Catalogue  of  Books  mostly  from  the  Presses  of  the  First  Printers  shanving 
the  Progress  of  Printing  with  Alovable  Metal  Tyfies  through  the  second  half 
of  the  Fifteenth  Century.  Collected  by  Rush  C.  Hawkins,  catalogued  by  Al- 
fred IV.  Pollard,  and  de/iosited  in  Annmary  Bronvn  Alernorial  at  Provi- 
dence, Rhode  Island.  Oxford,  1910.  Tlie  Printers,  pages  xix  et  sey.The  early 
printer  has  been  treated  with  great  charm  by  Mr.  Pollard,  and  I  commend 
his  paper  in  its  entirety  as  indispensable  to  a  clear  idea  of  the  subject  we  are 
considering. 


GERMANY:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY        69 

handwriting  had  great  influence  on  the  forms  of  letters, 
more  especially  in  the  early  days  of  printing,  and  this  ac- 
counts for  the  great  variety  in  the  founts  used  before  1480. 
After  about  that  date,  types  of  the  same  general  character 
and  often  indistinguishable  in  nearly  every  detail  were  in  use 
in  places  long  distances  apart,  in  some  cases  because  the  later 
printers  found  it  easier  to  imitate  an  already  existing  type 
than  to  adapt  written  characters  to  their  needs,  in  others, 
in  all  probability,  owing  to  the  sale  of  punches  or  matrices. 

"While  great  care  had  to  be  taken  in  choosing  a  good 
design  for  a  type,  a  single  fount  often  served  an  early  printer 
for  several  years.  There  were  no  title-pages  in  these  first 
days,  and  the  printer's  business  was  only  to  print  the  text 
of  his  book,  leaving  headings  and  headlines,  as  well  as  or- 
namental capitals,  to  be  supplied  by  hand  to  suit  purchas- 
ers' tastes.  As  the  cry  for  cheapness  grew  louder  printers 
found  it  necessary  to  leave  less  and  less  to  be  done  by  the 
scribes,  whose  bill  for  rubricating  a  book  must  have  added 
very  materially  to  its  cost  to  the  buyer.  Special  types  were 
then  cast  for  use  in  headings  and  headlines  and  on  title- 
pages,  and  many  printers  provided  themselves  with  fine  sets 
of  woodcut  capitals." 

Thus  we  see  that  the  printer's  choice  of  types  was  almost 
entirely  governed  by  the  kind  of  manuscript  popular  in  the 
particular  locality  of  the  country  in  which  he  found  him- 
self. The  design  of  his  type  was  also  dependent  on  the 
kind  of  book  to  be  printed;  as  various  classes  of  books — I 
speak  of  black-letter  books  —  employed  particular  forms  of 
black-letter. 

In  closing,  it  may  be  noted  that  most  Mainz  printers 
went  to  Italy;  none  of  them,  apparently,  to  Holland.  Per- 
haps this  was  because  they  knew  that  the  art  of  printing,  in 
rudimentary  form,  was  already  practised  there. 


CHAPTER  V 

TYPE  AND  TYPE-FORMS  OF  THE   FIFTEENTH  CENTURY 

IN   ITALY 

THE  popularity  of  the  roman  character  in  Itahan 
manuscripts  was  due  to  the  Renaissance  revival 
of  classical  learning,  and  it  has  already  been  briefly 
shown  to  what  sources  this  letter  was  traceable.  Italy  being 
the  seat  of  the  Renaissance,  printing  in  roman  types  very 
naturally  became  general  there  earlier  than  in  any  other 
European  country.  The  best  roman  types  are  to  be  found 
in  Italian  books  printed  before  1500.  These,  as  has  also 
been  said,  were  modelled  on  Humanistic  characters,  which 
were  in  their  turn  revivals  of  the  Carolingian  book-hands. 
To  see  how  closely  these  two  forms  of  writing  agreed  in 
general  effect,  it  is  only  necessary  to  compare  Carolingian 
manuscripts  of  the  ninth  with  Italian  manuscripts  of  the 
fifteenth  century. 

"At  the  period  of  the  early  Renaissance,"  says  Walter 
Crane,  "two  streams  met,  as  it  were,  and  mingled,  with  very 
beautiful  results :  the  freedom,  the  romance,  the  naturalism 
of  the  later  Gothic,  with  the  newly  awakened  Classical  feel- 
ing, with  its  grace  of  line  and  mythological  lore.  The  rich 
and  delicate  arabesques  in  which  Italian  designers  delighted, 
and  which  so  frequently  decorated,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
borders  of  the  early  printer,  owe  also  something  to  Oriental 
influence,  as  indeed  their  name  indicates.  The  decorative 
beauty  of  these  early  Renaissance  books  was  really,  there- 
fore, the  outcome  of  a  very  remarkable  fusion  of  ideas  and 
styles.  Printing,  as  an  art,  and  book  decoration  attained  a 
perfection  it  has  not  since  reached.  The  genius  of  the  great- 
est designers  of  the  time  was  associated  with  the  new  in- 
vention, and  expressed  itself  with  unparalleled  vigour  in  the 


ITALY:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  71 

woodcut ;  while  the  type-founder,  being  still  under  the  in- 
fluence of  a  fine  traditional  style  in  handwriting,  was  in  per- 
fect harmony  with  the  book  decorator  or  illustrator."  ^ 

The  first  press  in  Italy  was  set  up  at  the  Benedictine  Mon- 
astery of  Subiaco,  near  Rome.  Some  Germans  were  mem- 
bers of  this  community,  and  perhaps  that  was  one  reason 
why  the  German  printers,  Conrad  Sweynheym  and  Arnold 
Pannartz,  were  welcomed  by  its  abbot,  Cardinal  Turre- 
cremata.  Sweynheym,  a  clerk  of  the  diocese  of  Mainz,  was 
possibly  one  of  Fust  and  Schoeffer's  workmen.  Pannartz 
belonged  to  the  diocese  of  Cologne.  The  theory  that  both 
men  were  refugees  from  Mainz  in  1462,  that  Nicolas  Jen- 
son  accompanied  them  in  their  flight,  and  that  he  cut  the 
font  used  by  them  at  Subiaco,  as  well  as  that  subsequently 
employed  at  Rome,  has  been  advanced  by  reputable  author- 
ities.' Be  that  as  it  may,  a  very  beautiful  type  was  pro- 
duced at  Subiaco,  which  appears  to  us  gothic,  but  which 
they  probably  considered  roman;  for  these  printers,  accus- 
tomed to  gothic  types,  found  themselves  in  a  country  where 
manuscripts  in  the  Humanistic  character  were  the  fashion. 
So,  while  their  type  has  many  details  of  Gothic  design  in 
it,  it  has  roman  capitals,  and  lower-case  letters  very  roman 
in  structure  —  though  their  thickness  of  line  gives,  in  mass, 
the  effect  of  gothic  type.  There  is,  too,  a  certain  amount  of 
white  between  the  lines  of  type,  which  results  in  a  clear- 
ness usually  characteristic  of  books  printed  in  roman  fonts.^ 
While  not  a  roman  type  as  we  should  now  understand  the 
term,  it  is,  in  spite  of  its  general  effect,  a  font  well  on  the 

'  Cmne's  Decoratiue  Illustration  of  Books,  p.  125. 

^For  Claudin's  account  of  this  episode,  see  his  Histoire  de  l^ Imfirimerie  en 

France  au  XFe  et  au  XFIe  sitcle,  Vol.  I,  pp.  10  et  seq. 

^Burger,  pi.  45. 


72  PRINTING  TYPES 

wav  thereto.  Three  books  were  printed  at  Subiaco — Cicero's 
De  Oratore  (which,  though  undated,  is  generally  considered 
the  first  one),  appearing  either  at  the  end  of  1464  or  the  be- 
ginning of  1465  ;  the  Opera  of  Lactantius,  printed  in  1465  ; 
and  the  De  Civifafe  Dei  of  St.  Augustine,  finished  in  1467 
{Jig.  24).  Possibly  earlier  than  all  of  these  was  a  Donatus, 
of  which  no  copy  exists,  but  of  which  there  is  a  record. 

The  end  of  the  year  1467  finds  Sweynheym  and  Pan- 
nartz  in  Rome,  where  they  set  up  a  press  in  the  palace 
of  the  De'  Massimi  family.  Their  first  book  printed  in 
Rome  was  Cicero's  Epistulx  ad  Familiares  of  1467,  followed 
by  the  Lactantius  of  1468.  These  were  set  in  a  new  font 
which,  though  far  less  attractive  than  the  Subiaco  letter, 
was  a  much  more  roman  type  {Jig.  25).  Besides  the  books 
at  Subiaco  (four,  if  we  count  the  Donatus)  they  printed 
about  fifty  at  Rome,  where  they  worked  together  until  1473. 
A  roman  type  was  also  produced  at  Rome  in  1468  by  Ulrich 
Han  for  editions  of  Cicero's  De  Oratore  and  Tiiscularvx, 
Quxstio7ies,  but  \vhether  it  was  a  roman  letter  under  Gothic 
influence,  or  a  gothic  letter  under  Roman  influence,  it  is  hard 
to  say.  In  general  effect  it  was  certainly  greatly  inferior  to 
the  Sweynheym  and  Pannartz  types.^  In  all  three  fonts, 
whatever  the  form  of  lower-case  letter,  the  capitals  were  dis- 
tinctly roman.  Many  roman  types  of  varying  degrees  of 
purity  and  attractiveness  were  used  by  Italian  printers  of 
this  period.  It  was  reserved  for  John  andWendelin  de  Spire 
to  show  a  roman  t3^pe  which  to-day  appears  roman  to  us. 
In  the  font  used  in  the  Venice  editions  of  Cicero's  Epistulx 
ad  Familiares  and  Pliny's  Historia  JVaturaiis  of  John  de  Spire, 
printed  in  1469,  and  the  De  Civitate  Dei  printed  in  the  next 
year  by  John  and  Wendelin  de  Spire  {Jig.  26),  this  very 
modern  quality  can  be  clearly  recognized. 

'Burger,  pi.  83. 


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credendum  eH-.quia  necc({e:  fuic  populu  dliquado  ad 
ludum  conuenire.&^  uoluerunc  uc  iquic  pbilofopbuf 
derermiaca  ee  loca  ludendi  :ne  m  diuerfcnifpuaafq; 
locirconucnncula  fa  cientejj^^bro  fa  &:  conrumeliofa 
aliqua  pcrpetrarenc  <C3^LiiLifmodi  tcaq?  mecbanicc 
arcefa^  uiuendi  genera  b^erhfTimc  a  quofibecboeflia 
uiro  ualenc  exercen.Nam  &:  facra  fcpcura  bumfmoi 
neceflanafarcef  comendac  mquicfm  eccIefiaOico-  In 
manu  artificifomiropera  laudabi^.unufexppbccif 
aic.t  porta  regifamficefnegonacur.Auc  fi  force  cece/ 
rafarcefingenio  predirafpcroptaf  reltgc  nbi  hberalef 
arcef-prerercim  quamor  ulnmaf  quaf  macbemaacaf 
uocanc.  que  plemnqr  magno  fplendore  bommef  eaC 
fecfbancefillunrrancLcgifbi  Sulpiciu  GalluaHrro/ 
nimu  plurimu  bononf 8^  unlicanfacflulifre  romaniC 
Qui  cum  bcllo  pximt  effenc  concra  parfaftea  nodle 
luna  eclipfaca  eO.  quo  figno  fhipefac^t  romani  dcli/ 

25.  Sccotid  Ttfpe  of  Srvcipihcijm  anJ  Pannartz^  Iiomt\  lA-67 
Ff-om  the  S/iecultim  Hurnariif  f'ita'  of  1468 


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ITALY:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  73 

Nicolas  Jenson,  whose  celebrated  roman  types  are  now 
to  be  considered,  was  a  Frenchman,  a  native  of  Somme- 
voire,  Haiite-Marne,  and  for  some  time  was  mint-master  at 
Tours.  The  legend  is,  that  Charles  VII  of  France  sent  Jen- 
son,  in  1458,  to  Mainz,  to  inform  himself  on  the  subject  of 
the  new  art  of  printing  and  to  acquire  sufficient  knowledge 
to  work  in  it  on  his  return.  But  if  Jenson  ever  went  to  Mainz, 
he  never  returned  to  France,  and  we  find  him  in  1468  at 
Venice.  The  first  roman  characters,  which  were  used  by  John 
de  Spire,  and  for  which  De  Spire  obtained  an  exclusive  priv- 
ilege for  five  years,  have  been  sometimes  attributed  to  Jen- 
son. In  any  case,  De  Spire's  death  in  1470  lifted  the  restric- 
tions on  roman  types  from  other  Venetian  printing-houses, 
and  Jenson  produced  in  that  year  his  famous  roman  let- 
ter {Jig.  27).  The  tractate  De  Prwparatione  Evangelica  of 
Eusebius  is  generally  considered  his  first  book.  If  we  look  at 
the  best  Humanistic  manuscripts  of  the  period,  it  is  readily 
seen  whence  he  derived  his  inspiration. 

The  characteristics  of  Jenson's  font  were  its  readability, 
its  mellowness  of  form,  and  the  evenness  of  colour  in  mass. 
Analyzed  closely,  his  letter-forms  were  not  very  perfect; 
had  they  been  so,  their  effect  would  not  have  been  so  good; 
for,  as  an  authority  has  said,  "a  type  too  ideal  in  its  per- 
fection is  not  an  ideal  type."  The  eye  becomes  tired  when 
each  character  is  absolutely  perfect.  Thus  the  good  effect 
of  the  type  in  mass  depends  somewhat  upon  the  varia- 
tions in,  and  consequent  "movement"  of,  its  integral  parts. 
Jenson's  roman  types  have  been  the  accepted  models  for 
roman  letters  ever  since  he  made  them,  and,  repeatedly 
copied  in  our  own  day,  have  never  been  equalled.  There 
were  other  printers  in  Italy  whose  types  rivalled  his,  but 
no  other  man  produced  quite  so  fine  a  font,  or  had  better 
taste  in  the  composition  of  a  page  and  its  imposition  upon 


74.  PRINTING  TYPES 

paper.^  The  presswork  of  his  volumes  is  perhaps  their  weak- 
est point.  Apparently  a  lighter  ink  was  used  for  his  roman 
than  for  his  gothic  types — for  Jenson  also  used  a  gothic  let- 
ter." He  printed  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  books  in  some  ten 
years,  and  as  he  prospered  in  the  enterprise  we  may  draw 
from  his  history  the  unexpected  moral  that  if  only  a  man 
does  a  thing  well  enough^  it  will  reward  him — in  reputation, 
or  in  money  —  perhaps  in  both.  For  Jenson  in  his  own  day 
had  a  great  reputation,  both  as  a  publisher  and  printer.  He 
died  at  Rome,  in  1480,  \\'hither  he  went  at  the  invitation 
of  Pope  Sixtus  IV.  Jenson's  material  passed  into  the  hands 
of  Torresano  of  Venice,  father-in-law  of  Aldus,  who,  after 
the  latter's  death,  carried  on  the  Aldine  printing-house. 

At  the  head  of  a  broadside  advertisement  of  various 
classes  of  books,^  printed  (in  bold  gothic  type)  by  Jenson 
and  his  associate  and  successor,  Herbort,  and  brought  out 
by  the  latter  not  many  months,  it  is  believed,  after  Jenson's 
death,  there  are  some  prefatory  remarks  which  were  per- 
haps written  by  a  theologian  of  a  Humanistic  turn  of  mind. 
We  quote  them  as  a  testimony  to  the  esteem  that  Jenson's 
M'ork  enjoyed  in  its  own  day  :  even  allowing  for  the  exagger- 
ation incident  to  advertising.  After  an  invocation  to  Christ 
the  Illuminator  of  the  World,  it  reads : 

"It  has  appeared  to  me  to  be  an  undertaking  which 
would  redound  to  the  common  advantage  of  all  men,  that 
I  should  in  this  litde  discourse  of  mine  set  forth  to  every 
people  the  extreme  usefulness  of  the  works  printed  in  the 
famous  city  of  Venice,  especially  of  those  which  are  from 

^ DrucknchrifCcn,  pi.  67.  ^ Ibid.,  pi.  34. 

^  Discovered  in  the  library  of  tlie  Cai)iirhin  Cloister  at  Burghausen,  Upper 
Bavaria,  pasted  inside  three  books  jirinted  by  Jenson  in  1478.  It  is  now  in  tlie 
State  Librar)'  at  Munich.  For  facsimile,  etc.,  see  Wiegendrucke  und  Hand- 
schrifttn.  Festgabe  Konrad  Haebler  zuni  60.  Geburtstage.  Leipsic,  1919, 
p.  22. 


qui  omnibus  ui  aquarum  fubmeifis  cum  filiis  fuis  fimul  ac  nuri'ous 
mirabili  quodi  modo  quafi  femen  liuani  generis  confcruatus  eft:qui 
unni  quafi  uiuam  quandain  imagincm  imitan  nobis  connngat:&  hi 
quidemantedi!uutumfueranc:pol^diluuuimauteinaliiquoruunus 
altilTimi  dei  f^ccidos  luftitix  acpietans  miraculo  rex  iuHus  lingua  he^ 
brioru  appcUatus  eftrapud  quos  ncc  circuncifionis  nee  mofaicx  legis 
uUa  mcntio  erac .  Quare  nee  ludxosfpollcris  eni  hoc  nomcn  fuit)neq! 
genn!es:quoniam  non  ucgentes  plurahtacem  deorum  inducebancfed 
hcbra:os  propne  nofamus  aut  ab  Hcbere  ucdi(flu cft:auc  qa  id  nomen 
tranfitiuos  fignificat.Soh  qppe a  creatuns  naturali  rone  k.  lege  inata 
no  fcnpca ad cogmtioncueri del  trafiere;S:uolupcare  corporis  cotepta 
ad  rccftam  uitam  pueniffe  fcribunc'':cum  quibus  omibus  prxclarus  ille 
tonus  genens  origo  Habraam  numeradus  efl:cui  fcriptura  mirabilera 
iuftitia  qua  non  a  mofaica  lege(feptima  efm  pofl:  Habraa  generacione 
Moyfes  nafatur)red  naturali  tuit  ranone  confecutus  fuma  cum  laudc 
atteftatur.Credidit  enim  Habraam  deo  &  reputatii  efl:  ei  in  luftinam. 
Quare  mulcarum  quoq;  gentium  patrem  diuina  oracula  tuturu:ac  in 
ipT'o  benedicedas  oes  genres  hoc  uidelicSC  ipfum  quod  lam  nos  uideiis 
apcrte  pra;dirtum  eft:cuius  lUe  luftitix  pertecftioem  non  mofaica  lege 
fed  fide  cofecucus  eft:qui  poft  multas  dei  uifiones  legimmum  genuit 
filium:quem  pnmum  omnium  diuino  pfuafus  oraculo  circucidit:£i 
ceteris  qui  ab  eo  nafcerctur  tradidit:uel  ad  manifeftum  mulntudinis 
eorum  futura:fignum:uel  ut  hoc  quafi  paternsuirtutis  ifignefilii  re-* 
tinetes  miiores  fuos  imitan  conaret';aut  qbufcuqj  aliis  decaufis.Non 
cnim  id  fcrutidum  nobis  modo  cft.Pol^  Habraam  films  ems  Ifaac  in 
pietate  fuccellitifoelice  hac  ha:reditate  a  parctibus  accxpta:q  uni  uxoii 
coniunctus  quum  geminos  genuiflet  callitatis  amore  ab  uxore  poflea 
dicicurabftinuiffe.Ab  ifto  natuse  lacob  qui^pptcrcumulatu  uirtutis 
prouetum  Ifrael  enam  appellatus  eft  duobus  noibus  pptcr  duplicem 
uirtutis  ufu. lacob  efm  athleta  &  exercecem  fe  latine  dicerc  poflumus: 
quam  appellatione  primii  habuitiquu  praifticis  operanoibus  multos 
pro  pietate  labores  krebat.Quuni  aute  lam  ui(ftor  ludando  cuafit:&; 
fpeculanonis  fruebat  bonis:tLic  Ifraelem  ipfe  deus  appcllauit  iterna. 
premia  beatitudineq;  ukimam  qux  in  uifione  del  confi'lit  ei  largiens: 
hominem  enim  qui  deum  uideac  Ifrael  nomen  fignificat.  Ab  hoc.xii. 
iudxorum  tnbus  ^fedlx  fut.Innumerabilia  de  uicaiftorum  uirorum 
forritudine  prudencia  pietatcq;  dici  pofl"unt:quoium  alia  fecundum 
fcnpturx  uerbahiflorice  confidcrantur;alia  nopologice  acallcgorice 
incerprctat^:de  qbus  multi  cofcripferutiSC  nos  m  libro  que  infcnpfiils 


27.  JemoR's  Roman  Typr  used  In  EusMus,  De  Prrparalime  Emngelira,  Venice,  1470 


ITALY:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  75 

the  excellent  workshop  of  Master  Nicolas  Jenson  the 
Frenchman.  And  in  order  that  what  is  maimed  and  imper- 
fect be  not  bought  and  prized  as  the  equal  of  the  best,  and 
that  bad  printing  be  not  so  praised  as  to  cause  men  to 
neglect  and  not  purchase  what  has  been  printed  with  the 
utmost  care  and  painstaking,  I  made  up  my  mind  to  com- 
municate this  letter  to  the  public.  For  the  excellent  Master 
Nicolas  Jenson  employs  proofreaders  who  are  skilled  in 
both  languages,  and  he  seeks  out  the  most  famous  men  of 
learning  and  greater  numbers  of  them,  with  the  result  that 
works  published  by  him  have  the  power  of  illuminating 
the  entire  world,  and  contain  neither  too  much  nor  too  little, 
as  you  will  well  understand  if  you  will  read  through  his 
books  with  the  most  heedful  attention.  Furthermore,  they 
contain  discussions,  on  this  side  and  that,  by  the  most  com- 
petent men,  in  order  that  the  truth  may  through  the  va- 
riety of  arguments  be  revealed.  For,  as  Cicero  says  in  the 
Paradoxes,  'there  is  nothing  so  rough  and  unkempt  that  it 
cannot  be  glorified  by  the  proper  treatment.'  But  the  quality 
and  value  of  the  types  that  he  uses  is  another  marvel  to 
relate,  for  it  ought  to  be  ascribed  rather  to  divine  inspira- 
tion than  to  human  wit,  so  that  all  may  say  and  truly,  that 
Master  Nicolas  easily  surpasses  all  his  rivals ;  so  that  men 
might  justly  venture  to  repeat  the  saying  of  Virgil  in  the 
Bucolics — 'but  she  bears  her  head  as  high  among  all  other 
cities  as  any  cypress  will  do  among  trailing  hedgerow 
shoots.'  For  his  books  are  no  hindrance  to  a  man,  nor  do 
they  produce  weariness,  but  rather  give  delight  by  their 
exactness  and  precision;  they  do  not  harm  one's  eyes,  but 
rather  help  them  and  do  them  good.  Moreover  the  charac- 
ters themselves  are  so  methodically  and  carefully  finished 
by  that  famous  man  that  the  letters  are  not  smaller  or 
larger  or  thicker  than  reason  demands  or  than  may  afford 


76  PRINTING  TYPES 

pleasure:  which  he  could  not  have  done  unless  filled  by 
some  divine  inspiration.  Hence  our  debt  to  that  excellent 
man  Master  Nicolas  Jenson  is  great  indeed  :  for  through  his 
diligence  and  toil  all  peoples,  barbarous  as  well  as  Latin, 
have  in  their  hands  works  which  before  could  scarcely  be 
procured :  now  they  have  these  works  printed  with  correct 
texts  in  most  excellent,  beautiful  and  agreeable  books,  so 
that  they  deserve  praise  and  reverence  in  the  highest  de- 
gree. I  for  my  part  determined  to  narrate  briefly  their  good 
qualities,  not  because  of  any  spite  or  jealousy  toward  others, 
but  as  I  have  already  said,  for  the  common  advantage  of  all 
men :  on  which  we  ought  to  insist  much  more  than  upon 
our  own  advantage:  lest  men,  when  they  buy,  should  buy 
and  possess  the  false  instead  of  the  true,  the  ugly  instead 
of  the  beautiful,  the  incorrect  instead  of  the  most  accurate." 
Five  or  six  roman  fonts  were  cut  for  the  great  Venetian 
printer-publisher,  Aldus  Manutius.  His  first  roman  letter, 
in  which  Bembo's  JEtna  appeared,  was  not  particularly  suc- 
cessful, but  the  third  roman  font,  designed  by  the  celebrated 
Francesco  da  Bologna  (Grifii),  who  after\\  ard  cut  the  Al- 
dine  italic  character,  was  excellent.  This  roman  type  was 
used  in  that  famous  book,  Colonna's  H ypnewtomachia  Poli- 
phili^  or  "The  Strife  of  Love  in  a  Dream,"  printed  by  Aldus 
in  the  last  year  of  the  century.  It  is  remarkable  for  its  de- 
lightful illustrations,  drawn  in  a  line  which  harmonizes 
with  the  tone  of  the  pages  of  roman  letter.  From  one  of 
these  decorations  the  famous  Aldine  printer's  mark  of  dol- 
phin and  anchor  was  derived ;  although  the  original  of 
this  design  is  to  be  found  on  a  coin  which  Erasmus  says 
was  sent  to  Aldus  by  the  Renaissance  scholar,  Bembo.  A 
specimen  of  this  Aldine  roman  font  is  shown  in  the  fac- 
simile from  a  page  of  the  H ypnewtomachia  {Jig.  28).  It  is 
distinctly  inferior  to  Jenson's  roman  characters,  and  perhaps 


POLIPHILOINCOMINCIAILSECONDO  LIBRO  DI 
LA  SVA  HYPHEROTOMACHIA.NEL  QVALE  PO- 
LIA  ET  LVI  DISEKTABONDI,IN  QVALE  MODO  ET 
VAKIO  CASO  NAKKANO  INTEPvCALAKIAMEN- 
TE IL  SVO  INAMOKAMENTO, 

NARKA  QVIVI  LA  DIVA  POLIA  LA  NOBILE  ET 
ANTIQYA  OKIGINE  S VA.ET  COMO  PER  LI  PREDE 
CESSORI S  VI TRI VISIO  F  VE  EDIFIC  ATO.ET  DI  QVEL 
LA  GENTE  LELIA  ORIVNDA.ET  PER  QVALE  MO- 
DO DISAVEDVTA  ET  INSCIA  DISCONCIAMENTE 
S£  INAMOROE  DI  LEI  IL  SVO  DILECTO  POLIPHILO. 

EMIEDEBILEVOCE  TALEOGRA 
ItiofeScdiue  Nymphe  abfoneperuenerano  5c 
inconcine alia  uoltra  benigna  audietia ,  a  ualc 
latcrrifica  raucitate  del  urinante  Efacho  al  fua- 
'ue  canto  dela  piangeuole  Philomela.  Nondi 
meno  uolendo  io  cum  tuti  gli  mei  exilf  cona" 
i,ti  del  intelledo.&cumlamiapaucula  fufficie 
da  di  (atiffare  alle  uoftre  piaceiiole  petitionc, 
nonrfflaro al  potere.Lequale  femota  cjiialuque  hefitatione  epiepiuche 
ficongruerebbealtronde,dignamentemeritano  piiuiberrimo  fluuio  di 
eloqiientia,cumtroppopiurotiindaelegaiitia8icumpiuexomatapoli 
tiira  di  pronutiato,chein.  me  per  alcuno  padlo  noii  fi  troua,  di  cofeguire 
ilfuogratiofoaffedo.Maauui  Celibe  Nymphe&:admealquato,quan. 
tucheScconfuraScincomptametefringultieteharoinqualcheportiiiiv 
culagratificatoaflai.QuandouoluntarofaSi  diiiota  a  gli  defii  uoflri  dc 
poftulato  me  preftaro  piu  prefto  cum  lanimo  no  mediocre  prompto  hu-' 
mile  parendo,che  cum  enucleata  terfa.S:  uenufta  eloqueniia  placedo.La 
f  rifca  dunqueSc  ueterrima  geneologia,&:  profapia.^  il  fatale  mio  amorc 
garruIandoordire.Ondegiaeflendoneluoftro  ucncrando  conucntualc 
confpedlo,&uedermefterile8iieiunadieloquio8^adtanto  prcftatc  8i  di 
uo  ceto  di  uui  O  Nymphe  fedule  famularie  dil  a.cce[o  cupidine.  Et  itan'' 
to  bdnigno  SideledeuoleS^facro  {ito,di  fincere  aure  &:  florigeri  fpirami-' 
niafflatoJo  acconciamentecompulfo  diaflumereuno  ucnerabileaufo, 
&tranquillo  timorededire.  Dunqueauanteiltuto  uenia  datc,o  belli(Ii>' 
meS^beatidimeNympheaquefto  mio  blafterare  &agli  fcmelli  &rcrri'' 
geni,8cpufilluli  Conati,fiadiiencchcinalchuna  parte  io incautamentc 

A 

28.  Pag-e  of  Hypnerotomachia  Pol'iphUi:  Aldus ^  Venice^  1499 
{reduced) 


ITALY:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  77 

to  those  of  the  Venetian  printer,  Ratdolt.  Besides  roman 
types,  Aldus  possessed  fonts  of  his  celebrated  italic  charac- 
ter in  two  sizes,  and  several  fonts  of  Greek  type.  Aldus  died 
in  1515,  and  when  he  lay  in  state  his  books  were  grouped 
about  him.  He  directed  in  his  will  that  punches  begun  by 
a  certain  cutter  should  on  no  account  be  completed  by  an 
inferior  hand. 

One  other  Venetian  printer  (and  type-cutter)  should  not 
be  forgotten — Erhard  Ratdolt,  who  came  from  Augsburg, 
and  began  to  print  at  Venice  in  1476.  His  books  are  the 
first  with  decorative  title-pages,  and  he  also  employed  ex- 
tremely fine  borders  and  initial  letters.^  He  issued  his  beau- 
tiful type  specimen-sheet  in  1486.^  It  is  dated  Augsburg, 
April  1,  1486,  but  was  probably  printed  at  Venice,  just  be- 
fore Ratdolt  left  for  Augsburg,  and  was  to  be  used  there. 
In  this,  the  earliest  specimen-sheet  known,  the  Ave  Mana, 
in  its  older  form  (which  begins  it  with  a  charming  initial 
A),  is  printed  in  a  large  gothic  letter,  derived  from  four- 
teenth century  Italian  manuscripts.^  The  sheet  exhibits  ten 
sizes  of  excellent  gothic  letter,  four  of  which  are  here  re- 
produced {Jig.  29).  There  are  three  sizes  of  roman — all 
good  —  and  a  specimen  of  Greek  letter  of  excellent  early 
form  (Jig.  30).  Ratdolt's  books  were  among  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  the  Venetian  press.  Indeed,  by  the  sixteenth 
century,  Venice  was  a  centre  for  printing,  and  had  some 
hundred  and  fifty  printing-houses ;  and  over  four  thousand 
books, of  remarkable  excellence  in  workmanship,  came  from 

'  De  Vinne  thinks  that  Ratdolt's  initials  were  probably  cut  in  high  relief  on 
metal,  as  it  was  expensive  and  not  particularly  practical  to  cast  these  ornamen- 
tal letters  in  a  mould.  In  books  of  the  period  much  tliat  is  considered  engrav- 
ing on  wood,  especially  when  of  a  delicate  kind,  is  really  engraving  on  metal. 
De  Y'mne's  Plain  Printing  Types,  New  York,  1900,  p.  84. 

*  Burger,  pi.  5,  for  entire  sheet. 

*  Thompson,  fac.  194. 


78  PRINTING  TYPES 

its  presses.  The  work  of  Venetian  printers  and  type-found- 
ers was  considered  a  model  for  the  rest  of  Europe.  Publish- 
ers wishing  to  commend  their  books  announced  that  they 
were  printed  in  the  carattere  Veneio. 

The  attempts  of  the  first  Italian  printers,  Sweynheym 
and  Pannartz,  to  print  in  semi-roman  types,  have  led  us 
naturally  to  consider  first  the  development  of  these  types 
into  pure  roman  letter ;  but  gothic  types  were  also  used  in 
Italy  by  Jenson,  as  has  been  said,  and  by  many  other  print- 
ers. A  fine  specimen  of  Jenson's  work  in  gothic  fonts  is  the 
Codex  Deci-etonim  of  Gratian,  printed  in  1474.^  The  forms 
of  Italian  gothic  types,  while  pointed,  in  the  larger  sizes 
were  rounder  and  less  compact  than  the  like  kinds  of 
German  black-letter.  In  the  smaller  sizes  this  attenuated 
quality  is  very  striking,  and  makes  the  character  almost  a 
condensed  type.  A  similarly  condensed  letter  was  employed 
in  manuscripts  of  a  little  earlier  date. 

For  head-lines,  a  large,  round  gothic  letter  similar  to  some 
Spanish  gothic  characters  was  often  used ;  and  sometimes 
roman  capitals.  Not  merely  the  types,  but  their  arrange- 
ment in  general,  were  modelled  on  manuscripts  of  the  four- 
teenth and  fifteenth  centuries.  The  famous  manuscript 
Virgil,  with  notes,  which  belonged  to  Petrarch  (now  in  the 
Ambrosian  Library  at  Milan),  shows  a  character  of  letter 
and  an  arrangement  of  text  which  were  closely  followed  in 
many  subsequent  printed  editions  of  Virgil.  The  manu- 
script commentary  on  the  Decretals  of  Gregory  IX  (1353) 
in  the  Vatican  Library  is  also  very  much  like  some  books 
printed  from  Italian  gothic  fonts.^ 

The  important  series  of  plates  of  Italian  types  issued  by 
the  Type  Facsimile  Society  (alluded  to  more  fully  later)  are 

*  Druckschriften,  pi.  34. 

*  Paleografihie  Latine,  pis.  101  and  106. 


nia  bona,  lauftl^ono::  virtuf 
potetia:  ^  Qrmaj;.  actio  tibi 
c(?:ifte3mcn* 

cta/protti&et^tribmtC)eiisomnia 
nobis*T2):ofidtabrqtteOeo  nullum 
o:bel9bo:.  glla  placet  te!P  in  qua 
res  parua  bea  tn^  0bc  facit  ^  tcnnc6 
liimrianturopes. 

Sifo2tunavoIetfice  t)crl?cro2cconfiil. 
Six>oIctl?eceat>emfie9Scc6fulcr|?eto:* 
/©uicquib  amo:mflTt  no  eftc6tct>crc  mtu 
IRegnatain  bominos  iue  Ipabct  illc  fuos 
^ita  batac^tcba  Data  elincfcnerenobis^ 
^^uma:necccrtapcrfoIucnt>at)ie* 

W^as  1  ar0  bocmt  quob  fapit  omnie  l>onio 
2lrs  animo0  frangit  -z  firman  biriim't  ^>:  bes 
3lrte  cabunt  turres  arte  leuamr  onue 
2lrttbu9  ingcnns  quefita  eft  iglona  multis 
1^:incipijs  obfta  fero  mebiciiia  paramr 
Cum  mala  per  longas  conualuere  mozas 
0et>  p:opera  ncc  te  ^>enmra0  biifer  in  l)o:a9 
^ui  no»  eft^obie  cra0  minus  aptus  erit. 

29.  RatdoWs  Gothic  Type^from  his  Specimen  &/"1486 


Eft  homini  uirtus  fuluo  preciofior  auro:    a;n«as 
Ingenium  quondam  fuerat  preciofius  auro. 
Miramurq^  magis  quos  munera  mentis  adornat: 
Quam  qui  corporeis  emicuere  bonis. 
Si  quauirtute  nites  ne  defpicc  quenquam 
Ex  alia  quadam  forfitan  ipfe  nitet 

Nemo  (lie  laudis  nimium  I^etxir  bonore 
Ne  uilis  fectus  port  fua  feta  gemat. 
Nemo  nimis  cupide  fibi  res  deliderat  ullas 
Ne  dum  plus  cupiat  perdat  &:  id  quod  babet, 
Ne  ue  cito  uerbis  cuiufquam  credito  blandis 
Sed  fi  fint  fidei  relpice  quid  moneant 
Qui  bene  proloquitur  coram  (cd  poilea  praue 
Hie  crit  inuifus  bina  q>  ora  gerat 

Pax  plenamuimitis  opus  pax  (iimma  laborum 
pax  belli  exaai  priEciiim  ellprsEciumqueperxdi 
Sidera  pace  uigeiitconfiftuntterteapace 
N  il  placitum  fine  pace  deo  non  munus  ad  aram 
f  ornina  arbitriis  tempus  dilpen(at  ubi 
Ilia  rapit  iuuenesilla  feritleiies 

K^icd  TcvTSpifH  fe  ©cxAeiot  t8  jOLeAirojuivH  Vl 
r6ps}4)^o^H  T^pdTco  fe  iroAvjULveiot  Tovpotvw* 
ire  KcsAAioim  OeAu  Trpo^epejcmt  l$ivcnra 
cctwy     teovc>^5o\/djuLcrpw    t^cj. 

30.  RatdoWs  Roman  and  Greek  Type^from  his  Specvnen  of  1486 


ITALY:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  79 

material  to  be  consulted  for  the  general  effect  of  books  printed 
in  gothic  letter  in  the  last  half  of  the  fifteenth  century/ 

Italian  transitional  fonts  merged  almost  imperceptibly 
from  a  distinctly  gothic  into  a  fairly  clear  roman  type.  Start- 
ing from  the  pure  gothic  types,  the  first  differentiation 
appears  in  a  wider  leading  of  lines  and  wider  spacing  of 
the  type  itself.^  The  next  advance  shows  gothic  fonts  with 
somewhat  roman  capital  letters.  This  was  followed  by  books 
in  which  head-lines  and  dates  were  set  in  pure  roman  cap- 
itals. An  increasing  clearness  in  cut  and  further  separation 
of  letters  and  a  constant  use  of  roman  capitals  finally  devel- 
oped into  tentative  roman  fonts.  These  changes  can  be  in- 
terestingly traced  by  looking  at  the  earliest  type  of  Sweyn- 
heym  and  Pannartz  {Jig.  24),  and  the  improvement  in  the 
type  used  by  them  only  a  little  later  at  Rome  {Jig.  25) ;  or, 
better  still,  the  four  types  used  by  Ulrich  Han  in  the  same 
city.^  These  transitional  types  form  the  "bridge"  between 
Italian  gothic  and  roman  types.  Italian  printers  were  not 
always  very  particular  about  the  unities,  and  sometimes 
mixed  gothic  head-lines  with  roman  text,  while  some  books 
(although  but  few)  were  set  in  a  roman  lower-case  letter 
with  gothic  capitals. 

The  fonts  of  Italian  roman  vary  greatly.  The  finest  all 
have  that  rich,  mellow  character  which  no  types  before  or 
since  have  ever  had  in  such  degree.  While  Jenson's  type 
was  undoubtedly  the  best,  it  was  pushed  hard  by  some 
other  roman  fonts,  such  as  those  employed  at  Venice  by 
John  and  Wendelin  de  Spire  and  Ratdolt,  byMiscomini  at 
Venice  and  Florence,  by  Servius  at  Rome,  and  others. 

*  Type  Facsimile  Society.  Publications  of  the  Society  for  the  years  1901-09, 

inclusive. 

^ Ibid.,  pi.  1903m. 

'  Burger,  pis.  23,  84,  83  [l] ,  83  [2] ,  in  this  order. 


80  PRINTING  TYPES 

A  page  like  Miscomini's  Florentine  Horace  of  1482, 
where  notes  surround  the  text,  is  an  admirably  practical 
piece  of  work.  The  notes  are  perhaps  a  little  closely  set, 
but  the  page  is  fine  and  straightforward,  and  of  a  pleasant 
solidity  which  gives  the  reader  confidence  {Jig.  3l).  Almost 
all  Italian  roman  fonts  in  the  last  half  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury had  an  air  of  "security"  and  generous  ease  extremely 
agreeable  to  the  eye.  Indeed,  there  is  nothing  better  than 
fine  Italian  roman  type  in  the  whole  history  of  typography. 

It  is  not  fair,  however,  to  take  the  finest  of  these  and 
think  of  it  as  representative  of  Italian  fifteenth  century  type. 
Only  by  seeing  many  examples  can  one  get  a  general  idea 
of  that.  And  for  this  purpose,  the  publications  of  the  Type 
Facsimile  Society,  issued  in  England  through  the  influ- 
ence of  Robert  Proctor  between  1901  and  1909,  are  admir- 
able. If  the  reader  can  divide  a  set  of  the  loose  plates  into 
groups  of  roman  and  gothic  types,  and  then  sort  them  into 
groups  under  each  country,  in  chronological  arrangement, 
he  will  obtain  a  conspectus  of  national  type-forms  which 
is  invaluable.  He  has,  in  fact,  but  to  glance  through  the 
gothic  and  roman  Italian  types  shown  in  facsimiles  thus  ar- 
ranged, to  comprehend  the  general  tendency  of  type-forms 
in  either  class  of  character ;  and  will  realize  how  high  an 
average  of  excellence,  especially  in  the  roman  letters,  the 
fifteenth  century  Italian  printers  attained.  This  publication 
is  rare,  and  this  use  of  it  diverts  it  from  the  bibliographical 
purposes  for  which  libraries  cherish  it — though  it  does  not 
divert  the  librarian !  But  for  the  student  I  do  not  know  a 
more  valuable  work,  nor  a  more  valuable  way  to  use  it. 

When  we  compare  even  the  best  early  printed  books 
with  the  Italian  manuscripts  which  they  copied,  we  see 
how  far  they  fell  short  of  their  model.  "As  compared  with 
other  national  scripts,"  says  Maunde  Thompson,  "the  high 


ig-g-^lii    "B  «  «  c  g^  2  i  s-S^-a  - 


5  -—  ^    a  "^  ^<  -     ■      ^*      i?      "^      ST^   ^-      r^      L4    '^    "•*-'    ^;n      u      /% 

g«<.^^jm      "^   o   R   S   £fo-^'5i   P   "1   o  ,- ,2 


••    f^    ^^  'M    z:    'o 


<  cS  <  2  Q  z  CXu  (x;  H  2  <  u 


8 


^ 


ITALY:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  81 

level  of  general  excellence  maintained  by  the  Italian  scribes 
is  very  striking.  And  it  was  this  general  excellence  that 
placed  them  in  the  position  to  take  the  lead  at  the  crucial 
moment  of  the  adoption  of  printing  in  Europe.  .  .  .  And 
when  the  art  of  printing  was  established,  and  after  the 
early  type-cutters  had  selected  their  first  models  in  the  con- 
temporary MS.  book-hands  of  their  several  countries,  it  is 
no  wonder  that,  in  the  end,  the  type  copied  from  the  Italian 
script  prevailed  over  all  others."  ^  For  the  characters  em- 
ployed in  the  best  Humanistic  manuscripts  are,  in  their 
way,  among  the  masterpieces  of  human  endeavour. 

*  Thompson,  p.  464. 


CHAPTER  VI 

TYPE  AND  TYPE-FORMS  OF  THE   FIFTEENTH  CENTURY 

IN    FRANCE 

PARIS  was  the  first  place  in  France  in  which  print- 
ing, as  we  know  it  to-day,  was  practised.  But  before 
any  press  was  set  up  there,  essays  in  typography 
had  already  been  made  at  Avignon,  as  early  as  1444,  by 
Waldfoghel,  a  Bohemian  goldsmith  of  Prague.  He  had  some 
secret  process  \\  hich  he  called  the  art  of  writing  artificially. 
He  declared  under  oath  upon  the  Gospels  and  before  wit- 
nesses, that  the  said  method  of  writing  artificially  was  real, 
easy,  possible,  and  useful  to  those  who  wished  to  work  in  it. 
In  association  with  a  watchmaker,  or  locksmith,  who  came 
from  Treves,  and  with  the  help  of  others  who  supplied  money 
for  the  project,  he  set  up  some  sort  of  a  printing  establish- 
ment, the  material  of  which  consisted  of  two  steel  alpha- 
bets, two  iron  forms,  a  steel  instrument  called  a  vise,  and 
other  accessories.  He  also  made  an  alphabet  of  twenty-seven 
Hebrew  letters,  with  a  so-called  engine  and  accompanying 
instruments  of  wood,  tin,  and  iron.  It  is  possible  that  Wald- 
foghel had  earlier  been  associated  with  men  who  were,  in 
turn, connected  with  Gutenberg,  at  Strassburg  or  Mainz.  At 
the  latter  place  there  were  men  who  were  experimenting  in 
the  art  of  printing  besides  Gutenberg.  Waldfoghel,  though 
lacking  means  fully  to  develop  his  ideas,  seems  to  have  ar- 
rived at  something  much  like  Gutenberg's  process.  How- 
ever that  may  be,  his  experiments  did  not  continue  after 
1446.  Eleven  years  later.  Fust  and  Schoeffer's  Latin  Psalter 
of  1457  appeared  at  Mainz — the  first  dated  hook  printed 
from  movable  types. 

In  Paris,  printing  was  begun  in  1470  under  the  auspices 
of  two  men  whose  origin  casts  some  light  on  the  personnel 


coafl:ic|  afCentiremur  habere*  (D^  fi  uidcmur 
belli  fortuna  fccum  partiCLpare»'c5^ultius  elTe 
fcitOyOpponccc  fe  lUis  g  bumilioiibus  dnanK 
g  uirum  fcxlum  a  finibus  erigere  j  ac  fe  ultco 
romanis  boftes  ofteuderc  • 

CBtutus  tcallianis . 
W^'^Vnciatu  mibi  eft  cj  menedotius  uefter^ 
J  -Kdolobellg  inimico  meo  bofpes  A  amicuf 
exiftcnsycffccit^ut  intia  loca  nca  caftia  mctanf 
inde  abirc  no  urgere£»  d  nuc  quserit  ut  intra 
urbcm  cu  exercitu  recipiat»(Ji^  dolobcU^  p20 
deffe  tpfe  uel  guis  alius  opetatus  fit*  id  mibi 
molcftu  no  cft»nec  aniaducrtedos  cuiufpia  ct' 
tores  baftenus  cxiftimo»'confiderata  amicicia 
d  bofpitalitatc  eocum»3cd  nc  in  antea  aligd 
aniaducrfiois  dignu  ppetcetisApfu  mcnedoi^^ 
e  c'luitatc  in  exilium  eiciatis*  nro  commodo  d 
utilitati  profpicientes«cx  quo  ipfe  parda  dc/ 
uendcndo-'  fuu  dumtaxac  commodu  quxritat* 
Hcc|  dolobcUam  quoc^  pafto  recipiatif^fed  a 
finibus  ueftas  expellatis»(C^  fi  rcfifterct-'ui 
d  armis  cogatis»(3^uippe  ft  no  parcbitis^non 
menedori  opcca  uos  dolobellan:!  recepiHc^'fcd 

32.  First  Roman  Type  used  in  France:  Freilntrg-er^  Gei'ing- 
and  Kranz^  Paris^  1470 


FRANCE:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  83 

of  the  printing-house  (really  "a  private  press  for  the  benefit 
of  public  studies")  which  they  established.  One  was  Johann 
Heynlin,  called  de  la  Pieire^  from  his  birthplace,  Stein,  in  the 
Duchy  of  Baden.  He  had  been  prior  and  rector  of  the  Sor- 
bonne.  He  was  a  booklover,  and,  coming  from  the  banks 
of  the  Rhine,  was  in  relation  with  Mainz  printers.  Wor- 
ried by  the  carelessness  of  copyists,  he  succeeded  in  inter- 
esting Fichet,  professor  of  belles-lettres  and  rhetoric  at  the 
Sorbonne,  in  a  scheme  to  import  printers  to  Paris,  so  that 
learned  works  could  be  more  correctly  printed — a  plan 
which  aroused  considerable  opposition  among  the  po\verful 
associations  of  writers  and  copyists.  The  printers  for  whom 
he  sent  were  three — Freiburger,  a  man  of  education,  an  old 
friend  of  Heynlin,  and  a  former  fellow  student  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Basle;  and  two  others,  Ulrich  Gering  and  Martin 
Kranz,  both  workmen  of  the  higher  class.  These  men  reached 
Paris  in  the  early  months  of  1470.  Before  printing  anything, 
they  were  obliged  to  manufacture  the  tools  of  their  trade,  to 
set  up  a  press,  and  to  fit  up  their  workroom.  Last,  but  not 
least,  they  were  obliged  to  cut  their  type — a  roman  font  for 
which  Heynlin  furnished  a  model  from  the  types  of  an  edi- 
tion of  Caesar's  Commentaries^  which  was  printed  at  Rome 
in  1469  by  Sweynheym  and  Pannartz.  As  the  prior  (who  was 
to  correct  the  proofs  of  the  books  to  be  printed)  was  near- 
sighted, a  large  roman  character,  which  did  not  tire  the  eye, 
was  preferred  to  the  Gothic  manuscript-letter,  at  that  time 
generally  used  in  France.  The  type  was  awkward  in  cut, 
but  readable  {fig.  32). 

The  first  book  printed  in  this  font  was  Gasparini  Episfolae^ 

'  Claudin's  Histoirede  V hnfirimerie  en  France  auXV^  etau  XVI^siMe,  Paris, 
1900-14,  4  vols.,  Vol.  I,  p.  23. 

See  also  the  same  author's  First  Paris  Press.  An  Account  of  the  Books 
firintedfor  G.  Fichet  and  J.  Heynlin  in  the  Sarbonne,  1470-1472.  (Biblio- 
graphical Society's  Monographs,  No.  VI,  1898.)  Consult  facs.,  pp.  91-100. 


84  PRINTING  TYPES 

a  collection  of  letters  by  Gasparino  Barzizi  of  Bergamo, 
which  was  considered  an  example  of  an  excellent  Latin 
style.  A  second  book,  Gasporini  Ortho^-aphia^ — a  treatise  by 
the  same  author  on  the  orthography  of  Latin  \\ords, — was 
printed  in  the  same  type.  With  a  copy  of  it  which  Fichet 
sent  as  a  present  to  a  former  pupil,  Robert  Gaguin,  he  de- 
spatched a  letter  in  which  is  this  paragraph : 

"The  printers  say  here  to  whoe\er  is  Avilling  to  listen  to 
them,  that  it  is  a  man  named  John,  called  Gutenberg,  who 
first  invented  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mainz  the  art  of  print- 
ing, by  the  means  of  which  books  can  now  be  made,  not  with 
the  aid  of  the  reed,  as  in  old  times,  nor  by  the  pen  as  in  our 
days,  but  with  letters  of  metal,  quickly,  correctly,  and  well. 
.  .  .  Bacchus  and  Ceres  were  made  divinities  for  having 
taught  humanity  the  use  of  wine  and  bread,  but  Gutenberg's 
invention  is  of  a  higher  and  diviner  order,  for  it  furnishes 
characters  by  the  aid  of  which  all  that  is  said  or  thought 
can  be  written,  transmitted,  and  preserved  to  the  memory  of 
posterity." 

A  Sallust  and  other  books  followed,  always  printed  in 
this  same  font.  This  press,  as  primarily  founded,  ended  its 
work  in  1472.  In  the  next  year,  Fichet  having  left  for  Italy, 
and  Heynlin  no  longer  taking  an  active  oversight  of  its  pro- 
duction, the  printers  decided,  or  were  obliged,  to  leave  the 
Sorbonne  and  set  up  their  workroom  outside  it.  It  has  been 
said  that,  as  an  institution,  the  Sorbonne  was  active  in  pro- 
curing the  services  of  these  printers,  but  this  is  untrue ;  it 
was  merely  by  the  initiative  of  two  men  connected  with  that 
institution  that  the  printers  came  to  Paris.  The  press  itself, 
however,  was  undoubtedly  under  the  roof  of  the  Sorbonne, 
for  such  a  printing-office,  with  but  one  kind  of  type  and  a 
small  daily  production,  took  up  very  little  space. 

The  printers  then  installed  themselves  at  the  Sign  of  the 


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FRANCE:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  85 

Golden  Sun  in  the  Rue  St.  Jacques,  a  street  consecrated  for 
centuries  to  the  commerce  of  the  book — as  indeed  it  still 
is.  Their  next  type  (employed  for  a  manual  for  the  clergy, 
called  Mampiilus  Curatorum^  issued  in  1473)  was  a  gothic 
font  of  transitional  character,  more  roman,  however,  than 
the  like  types  of  Schoeffer.  This  was  the  first  gothic  type 
used  in  France.  In  this  book  it  was  set  in  double-column, 
with  the  initial  letters  and  paragraph  marks  put  in  by  hand 
{fig-  33V 

A  new  font,  of  letters  larger  in  size  than  any  of  these 
previous  types,  was  cut  for  the  imposing  Bible  which  they 
issued  in  1476  —  the  first  Bible  printed  in  France.  The  type 
is  a  heavy,  rounded  gothic,  but  capitals  are  roman,  a  feature 
not  so  inharmonious  in  effect  as  would  be  expected  {^jig.  34). 
The  small  type  used  in  this  Bible  was  the  same  as  that  em- 
ployed in  the  first  book  printed  after  they  left  the  Sorbonne.^ 

In  1477  Kranz  and  Freiburger  returned  to  Germany, 
leaving  Gering  alone.  Laying  gothic  fonts  aside,  Gering 
cut  for  himself  two  new  types,  both  pure  roman,  though 
heavy  in  effect.  In  comparing  these  with  the  Bible  type, 
they  appear  to  be  only  an  evolution  of  some  elements  clearly 
discernible  in  the  earlier  gothic  character.  The  throwing 
back  of  the  dot  on  the  i  is  a  feature  to  be  noticed.  In  the 
smaller  font  Gering  printed  two  theological  books ;  in  the 
larger,  editions  of  Virgil  {.jig.  35)  and  of  Sallust.  After  1484 
there  seems  to  have  been  a  cessation  in  his  activities,  but 
meanwhile  other  printers  had  taken  up  work  in  Paris,  and 
had  procured  new  fonts  of  gothic  and  roman  letter.  Later,  in 
association  with  Berthold  Rembolt,  a  native  of  Strassburg, 
he  employed  in  the  Breviaire  de  Paris  of  1492  a  delicate 
gothic  type.  It  was  cut  by  Wolf,  a  printer,  who  during  an 

'  Claudin,  I,  p.  63,  for  full  page,  rubricated. 
^  Rid.,  p.  77,  for  full  page,  rubricated. 


Publii  Vitgilii  maronis  mantuani  uatis  clarifTimi 
Carmen  BucoHcum  foeliater  indpit. 

Hie  deflet  meliboBus  profugiat  quod  inique. 
Titynis  aft  letus  quis  contulit  oda  didt. 

Melibaus       Tityrus 

f  Ityre  tu  patul^  rccubas  f ub  tcgmine  fagi : 

Silueftre  tenui  mufa  mediCans  auena* 

Nos  patri^  fines  et  dulda  linqmus  arua. 

Nos  patria  fugim9;tu  tityrc  letusi  libra 

Formofa  refonare  docesamaryllida  filuas; 

O  meliboeedeus  nobis  baec  oda  fedt.     Titytus* 

Nam9  crit  ille  mihi  fcmpct  deus;illius  aram: 

Sepe  tener  noftris  ab  ouilibus  imbuet  agnus* 

Ille  meas  errare  boues(ut  cemis)et  ipfum : 

Ludere(qu^  uellem)calamo  permiTit  agrefti. 

No  cquidc  inuideo.miror  magis.imdicp  totisy   Me. 

Vfcp  adeo  turbatur  agris.en  fpfe  capellas 

Protinus  eger  ago.banc  etiam  uix  tityrc  duco. 

Hi'c  inter  denfas  corylos  modo  nam^  gemellos; 

Spem  gregis(ah  filice  in  nuda)connixa  reliquft; 

Sepe  malum  hoc  nobis(fi  mens  non  leua  fuilTet) 

Dc  caslo  tactas  memini  predicere  quercus: 

Sspe  liniQra  caua  prazdixit  ab  ilice  comix. 

Sed  tamen  ifte  deus  qui  fitrda  tityre  nobis. 

Vrbem  qua  dicunt  roma :  meliboee  putaui      Ti . 

Stultus  ego  huic  noftr^  fimilem :  quo  fsepe  folcmus 

.a.if« 

S5.  Roman  Type  used  in  Vlrg-il  by  Gering^  Pan.f,  1478 


FRANCE:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  87 

quier  Bonhomme.  This  was  entirely  different  from  the 
gothic  types  used  up  to  that  time,  and  imitated  French  cur- 
sive Gothic  manuscripts  of  that  day.  It  is  a  charming  type, 
characteristically  French  —  nervous  and  spirited.  At  first 
introduced  in  rather  a  crude  form,  it  developed  into  a  beau- 
tiful letter,  principally,  if  not  always,  used  for  the  printing 
of  French.  It  was  in  type  of  this  family  that  the  first  book 
in  French  printed  at  Paris,  viz.,  Croniques  de  France,  was 
produced  by  Bonhomme  about  1477  {fig-  36).  Like  other 
early  types  it  was  derived  from  a  literary  hand,  founded 
on  a  cursive  legal  script  which  was  used  in  the  north  of 
France  and  in  some  parts  of  the  Netherlands  contiguous 
thereto.^ 

Besides  these  characteristically  French  types,  fonts  of 
which  to-day  form  part  of  the  equipment  of  some  French 
printing-ofiices,  condensed  gothic  types  were  employed  in 
certain  books  in  small  format  printed  at  Paris.  The  first 
of  these  appeared  in  1481  — La  Confession  de  frere  Olivier 
Maillard  {fig.  37).  Gothic  type  was  used  with  roman  cap- 
itals,^ and  other  fonts  appear  that  are  reminiscent  of  Italian 
and  Flemish  models.  There  was  also  a  difference  in  the  kind 
of  gothic  type  employed  for  Latin  and  French  books,  the 
former  being  printed  in  the  pointed  gothic  character,  and 
the  latter  in  various  forms  oibatarde — following  in  this  use 
the  manuscripts  which  preceded  printing.  Some  fonts,  the 
provenance  of  which  is  puzzling,  we  find  were  imported 
from  Basle,  from  Nuremberg,  or  elsewhere. 

Placed  on  the  first  page  of  French  books  of  this  period 
were  inscriptions,  cut  on  wood,  in  very  large  letters  (usu- 
ally imitative  of  calligraphy),  of  a  round  or  pointed  Gothic 
form.  These  and  calligraphic  initials,  adorned  with  masks 

*  Thompson,  fac.  196. 

'^  Claudin,  I,  pi.  facing  p.  200. 


88  PRINTING  TYPES 

or  grotesque  heads  —  such  as  that  used  in  the  well-known 
Mercies  Hystoireso^  1487  ^ — were  characteristic  of  popular 
French  book-making.  A  particular  feature  of  the  French 
press  of  the  fifteenth  century  was  the  exquisite  manner  in 
which  type  and  decorations  were  harmonized  and  combined. 
The  work  produced  by  Le  Rouge,  Pigouchet,  Verard,  Du 
Pre,  Vostre,  and  Tory  shows  a  delicacy  of  execution  and 
refinement  of  taste  not  hitherto  apparent.  It  was  in  the 
Books  of  Hours  produced  by  this  group  of  men,  says  Pol- 
lard, "that  the  genius  of  French  printers  first  strikingly 
evinced  itself.  For  more  than  a  century  the  decoration  of 
manuscript  Horx  had  invited  all  the  skill  of  the  finest  illu- 
minators of  Europe,  and  it  was  in  France  alone  that  the 
attempt  was  successfully  made  to  rival  the  glories  of  the 
scribe  and  painter  by  those  of  the  printer  and  engraver. 
The  names  of  Antoine  Verard,  Philippe  Pigouchet,  and 
Simon  Vostre,  as  printers  and  publishers,  are  inseparably 
connected  with  these  Books  of  Hours,  which  for  some 
quarter  of  a  century  from  1488  onward  constitute  the 
chief  glories  of  the  French  press.  More  than  300  editions 
were  issued  altogether,  in  which  some  forty  different  print- 
ers had  a  share,  Jean  du  Pre  at  the  beginning  of  the  series, 
and  Geoffroy  Tory,  as  late  as  1525,  being  the  most  impor- 
tant after  the  three  already  named"  {Jig.  38). 

The  use  of  roman  type  in  the  French  printing-houses  of 
the  fifteenth  century  was  slight,  after  the  first  essay  in  it  by 
the  Sorbonne  press.  It  is  only  toward  the  very  end  of  the 
century  that  the  roman  letter  is  again  employed,  generally  in 
editions  of  the  classics,  though  Kerver  and  Tory  later  used 
it  for  Books  of  Hours.  With  roman  lower-case  types,  roman 
capital  letters,  floriated  and  ornamented,  were  combined  — 
as  in  the  work  of  the  second  Paris  press  of  Cesar  and  Stoll. 

'Claudin,  I,  p.  459. 


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38.  Page  from  Book  of  Hours  in  Transitional  style 


FRANCE:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  89 

The  effect  of  their  quaint  forms  is  less  disagreeable  than 
one  would  suppose.^ 

Lyons  was  scarcely  inferior  to  Paris  in  the  number  of  its 
printing-houses.  By  its  situation  it  was  one  of  the  centres  of 
fifteenth  century  commerce,  and  fairs  were  held  there  fre- 
quented by  purchasers  from  all  parts  of  Europe.  The  Lyons 
printing  trade  was  more  prosperous,  because  less  restricted, 
than  in  Paris,  where  the  theological  censorship  in  particu- 
lar became  extremely  active.  The  products  of  the  Lyons 
press,  which  produced  popular  literature  —  poetry,  histo- 
ries of  chivalry,  etc.  —  show  some  interesting  variations  in 
French  typography.  In  general  the  same  types  are  used  as 
at  Paris,  but  the  type-setting  seems  rougher  and  perhaps 
freer  in  execution.  Many  Lyons  books  were  executed  in  a 
leitre  de  forme  which  recalls  the  products  of  early  Nether- 
lands printers. 

Guillaume  Le  Roy  was  the  first  Lyons  printer.  His  pa- 
tron was  Barthelemy  Buyer,  to  whom  he  held  somewhat  the 
same  relation  that  the  first  Paris  printers  did  to  Fichet  and 
Heynlin.  Le  Roy's  first  book,  the  Compendium  Breve  of  the 
Cardinal-Deacon  Lothaire,  issued  in  1473,  was  executed  in 
a  heavy,  roughly  cast  gothic  type,  just  mentioned  as  re- 
calling that  of  the  Netherlands.  He  also  employed  a  round 
gothic  font,  identical  with  that  used  by  Wendelin  de  Spire 
at  Venice  in  1473,  for  his  Miroir  de  Vie  Humaine  of  1477. 
Lyons  had  the  credit  of  producing  the  first  illustrated  book 
printed  in  France,  Le  Mirouer  de  la  Redemption^  printed 
there  in  1478  by  Martin  Husz  or  Huss.^  The  woodcuts  for 
this  book  came  from  Basle,  and  so,  in  point  of  fact,  did  the 
types.  If  Lyons  printing  seems  puzzling  because  of  the  fre- 

'Claudin,  I,  pp.  124,  131. 
-Ibid.,  Ill,  pp.  159-164. 


90  PRINTING  TYPES 

quent  resemblance  of  its  types  to  those  of  other  countries, 
the  reason  is,  that  types  of  other  countries  were  so  often 
employed !  Some  Lyons  fonts  can  be  traced  to  Nuremberg, 
others  to  Basle,^  to  Vienna,  and  to  Venice,"  for  Venetian  types 
had  begun  to  have  wide  vogue.  Besides  these  fonts,  the  for- 
eign origin  of  which  is  known,  there  are  others  evidently 
of  Italian  origin  or  design.^ 

One  of  the  finest  Lyons  books  produced  in  lettres  de 
fonne  was  the  Missale  secundum  usum  Lugduui  of  Neu- 
meister,of  1487.*  Neumeister  employed  magnificent  pointed 
gothic  types,  and  his  Lyons  Missal  recalls  in  many  ways 
Gutenberg's  work ;  quite  apart  from  the  fact  that  he  ac- 
tually came  from  Mainz  to  France  by  the  invitation  of 
Cardinal  Amboise,  and  was  traditionally  Gutenberg's  pupil 
and  companion.  This  Missal  was  almost  equalled  by  that 
printed  by  Hongre  in  1500,  in  a  most  Italian  and  also 
most  imposing  character,  though  not  especially  typical  of 
the  French  press.^ 

Besides  pointed  gothic  or  lettre  de  forme^  there  were  in 
use  at  Lyons,  as  we  have  just  seen,  some  round  gothic 
fonts.  When  Lyons  printers  \\ished  to  employ  such  type, 
they  seem  to  have  turned  to  the  Italian  form  of  gothic  letter 
for  their  models,  or  else  they  actually  procured  it  from  Italy. 
Proctor  believes  that  there  existed  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
independent  of  Venetian  printers,  some  Venetian  type- 
foundries,  where  types  not  only  could  be  bought,  but  also 
could  be  hired.  This  transfer  of  the  types  of  one  country 
to  the  workshops  of  another,  by  purchase  or  otherwise,  is 

'Claudin,  III,  pp.  166,  167. 

'  Ibid.y  facing  p.  194,  and  pp.  195,  196,  215.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  219. 

*  Ibid.,  J).  360  and  facing  plate,  p.  361,  plates  between  pp.  366  and  367, 

and  plate  facing  p.  368. 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  344,  345. 


FRANCE:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  91 

a  puzzling  feature  in  any  attempt  to  identify  types  geo- 
graphically. 

The  lettre  batarde^  the  characteristic  French  gothic  letter 
used  in  Paris,  was  also  common  in  Lyons,  but,  as  a  rule, 
in  a  rougher  and  less  attractive  form.  Examples  of  the 
use  of  this  heavier  form  of  it  may  be  seen  in  the  work  of 
Mathieu  Husz  and  of  Du  Pre.  The  latter's  Lyons  edidon 
of  La  Mei~  des  Hystoires  shows  pages  in  this  massive  char- 
acter which  are  splendid  in  eft'ect,^  especially  when  used  in 
connection  with  such  sumptuous  woodcuts  as  those  of  the 
Baptism  of  Clovis  and  the  Battle  of  Tolbiac.^  A  very  deco- 
rative pillar  which  appears  in  the  centre  of  this  plate  forms 
an  ingenious  division  between  its  two  subjects.^ 

Many  of  these  Lyons  books  were  arranged  with  a  line 
of  large,  round,  Italian  gothic  type  at  the  head  of  the  page ; 
types  several  sizes  smaller  forming  the  text.  Large  calli- 
graphic initials  were  also  features  of  the  Lyons  press ;  and 
square  initials  engraved  on  wood,  with  black  backgrounds 
(such  as  were  used  by  Le  Masson  and  his  associates),  added 
brilliancy  to  somewhat  heavy  typography.*  As  the  end  of 
the  century  approached,  the  popularity  of  Venetian  types 
increased  more  and  more — a  fact  which  foreshadowed 
some  of  the  tribulations  of  Aldus,  who,  in  the  next  century, 
found  no  more  unscrupulous  imitators  of  his  italic  type 
than  Lyons  printers.  Roman  characters  were  not  used  in 
Lyons  until  1490,  Jean  du  Pre  employing  them  in  his  an- 
notated Latin  text  of  the  Satires  of  Juvenal,  issued  in  the 
last  month  of  that  year.  Proctor  thinks  these  types  have  a 

'  Claudin,  III,  pp.  495,  496.  * 

^  Ibid.,  p.  498. 

^  For  a  comparison  of  Le  Rouge's  Paris  edition  of  this  same  Ijook,  see  Claudin, 

I,  pp.  459-463. 

'Claudin,  III,  pp.  232,  233. 


92  PRINTING  TYPES 

Gothic  look.  They  appear  to  be  a  very  fine  form  of  a  transi- 
tional roman  character  {Jig.  39). 

French  fifteenth  century  types  may  be  roughly  classed  as : 
i  transitional  roman ; 
ii  pure  roman  on  Italian  models; 

iii  pointed  gothic  or  leftre  de  forme ; 

iv  round  gothic  or  lettre  de  somme; 
V  contemporary  manuscript  gothic  letter  or  lettre  batarde; 

vi  gothic  fonts  showing  foreign  influence,  sometimes  of 
foreign  source. 

Of  all  these  French  gothic  types,  the  characteristically 
national  or  vernacular  letter  was  the  lettre  batarde^  derived 
from  contemporary  French  manuscripts.  Other  gothic  types 
employed  are  sometimes  akin  to  those  of  other  countries,  but 
the  lettre  batarde  is  distinctly  French.  In  fineness  of  cut  and 
spirited  delicacy  of  design — when  at  its  best  —  it  produces 
a  beautiful  effect,  especially  when  used  w\\h  the  decorations 
so  cleverly  designed  to  accompany  it. 

As  a  whole,  French  printing  was  more  delicate  and  dis- 
tinguished, but  less  virile,  than  that  of  Germany  or  Italy. 
The  Gallic  feeling  shows  itself  in  the  best  fifteenth  century 
French  books,  in  a  certain  brilliance  and  elegance  which 
is  purely  French,  Less  archaic  than  the  German,  less  mon- 
umental than  the  Italian,  the  work  of  the  best  early  French 
printers,  like  so  much  else  that  is  French,  is  charming.^ 

'  For  a  survey  of  esirly  French  types,  I  recommeiKl  the  student  to  tlie  fac- 
similes in  Thierry-Poux's  Premiers  Monuments  de  f  Imjirimerie  en  France 
au  XVe  Steele.  Paris,  1890. 


Long:©  rufftamierid  eftlong^o  ambi'fu  Ims^Coranumthuncponitpfo  eo.qui 
captaturaemulatione  Horati'i.  Horatms:  Captatorqjdabitrifusnaficacorano. 
Coram' alterius  mcminitMartiaIis:fed  hi'cproeo  tantiimquicaptatur.^IVlerc 
tern  xracaflromm:id  eft  quiIocupIetaturfti'pendiis:IaudatlegcmqjfciIicetbo^ 
na  caltrcnlia  finttantum  f1l10m5.fl'  Torquibus  itorques  militares  erantfumpto 

more  a  gallj's:  unde  tor^ 

AftiIHsquosarmafegunt:8ibaheusambrt.      ?tS'fim'toS 

Quod  placitum  eft  illis  pra^ftatur  tpus  agedi:    quae  apud  Thraces  ceic 

Necres  atteriturlongo  fufaaminc  litis.  bratur:  Ouxcocytiaac 

Of-         .        .rLj-t-t  mendidiadicutur.-apud 

bohspraetereatcftandi  multibus  lus  quos5Cot£hicainitmtn 

Vi'uo  patrc  daturrnam  qux  funtparta  labore       habucrut.ipam  fane  Go 

Militiae:placuit  non  cfic  in  corpore  ccnfus: 

O  mne  tenet  cuius  regimen  pater:ergo  coranu 

Signomm  comitemrcaftromq^  aeramerentem 

Quauis  ia  treutoptat  patef.huc  labor  aequ^ 

Prouehit:6i  pukhro  rcddit  fua  donalabori 

Jpfius  ccrte  ducis  hxc  referre  uidentur: 

Vt  qui  fortis  erit:fit  foeliciflimus  idem: 

Vtlaetiphaleris  omnes:8i  torquibus  omnes* 


lunii  luuenalis  Aquinatis  Safyraru  libri 
imprefli  Lugduni  diligentiiTime  arte  SC  in* 
genio  lohanis  de  Prato*  Anno  chriftiJM^ 
cccc*lxxxxXecundadie  Dcccmbris: 


39.  Brst  Roman  Type  used  at  Lyons:  Du  Prt^^  1490 


cyn :  quae  apud  edonios 
coIiturrSC  eius  infirume 
tamemoratAefchylus. 
Hic  manibus  bombica 
tomatam  tenens  digiti's 
tactile  modulos  implet. 
duo  ex  loco  planiieft 
Aefchilu  appellafle  Ge^ 
rerem  Gocyn.-quamlu^ 
uenalisCocyto  dixit.na 
ut  teftimoio  Ouidiido 
cuimus  coniunftaerant 
Gereris  cum  Baccho  (ai> 
cra.cocytiafacra  commc 
morat  etfain  Porphyrio , 


CHAPTER  VII 

TYPE  AND  TYPE-FORMS  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY 
IN  THE  NETHERLANDS  —  HOLLAND  AND  BELGIUM 

THE  year  from  which  Dutch  printing  is  usually 
officially  dated  is  1473,  but  some  sort  of  printing 
was  done  in  Holland  before  that  time.  The  name 
of  the  printer  of  the  Speculum  Salvationist  which  is  probably 
the  work  of  the  earliest  Dutch  press,  is  not  known.  The 
first  Dutch  books  of  w  hich  we  have  any  knowledge,  which 
may  be  called  "Costeriana"  (z.e.,  the  editions  of  Coster  and 
his  successors),  or  which  may  be  attributed  to  the  printer 
of  the  Speculum,  were  executed  from  rough  gothic  types  of 
the  kind  known  as  lettres  de  fonne.  There  is  in  Holtrop's 
Momiments  Typographiques  a  series  of  plates^  of  type-pages 
which  throw  a  great  deal  of  light,  not  alone  on  printing  in 
the  Low  Countries,  but  on  the  whole  subject  of  its  begin- 
nings. These  show  that  the  first  books  were  roughly  exe- 
cuted in  a  heavy,  black,  and  awkward  lettre  de  forme.  On 
glancing  through  these  plates — for  it  is  impossible,  owing 
to  their  rarity,  to  look  at  the  originals — one  realizes  what 
Blades  meant  in  his  allusions  to  the  crude  school  of  print- 
ing w  hich  preceded  that  of  Gutenberg.  If  we  examine  the 
facsimile  of  a  Donatus  printed  w  ith  the  types  of  the  Ahece- 
darium^  is  it  conceivable  that  the  printer  of  this  book  could 
have  known  anything  about  the  exact  methods  of  making 
type,  or  of  printing  with  it,  which  Mainz  printers  so  well 
understood?  The  Abecedarium  formerly  in  the  possession 

Holtrop's  Monuments  Tyfiografihiques  dcs  Pays-Bas  au  Quinziime  Si^c/e. 
La  Haye,  1868.  Twelve  plates  beginning  11  [3];  i.e.,  plate  11  in  sequence 
in  the  bound  book,  but  plate  3  in  sequence  of  original  issue.  Tlie  references  are 
confusing  unless  tliis  is  remembered,  for  the  plates  aa  bound  have  no  consec- 
utive folios. 

'Holtrop,  pi.  11  [3]. 


94  PRINTING  TYPES 

of  the  Enschedes  at  Haarlem  {fig.  40)  —  what  a  wretched 
little  book  it  is!  how  primary  in  every  sense!  While  the 
fragments  of  other  Donatuses  are  considerably  better,  the 
uneven  ending  of  lines,  which  indicates  that  no  composing- 
rule  was  used  at  the  time,  is  obvious  in  the  facsimiles  of  the 
Donatus  of  28  lines,^  and  in  the  Voyage  de  Jean  de  Manda- 
ville.'  As  to  the  four  editions  of  the  Speculum^  these  books, 
rather  ambitious  from  a  decorative  point  of  view,  call  for 
better  typography  than  that  which  accompanies  their  illus- 
trations.^ Although  some  impressions  are  better  than  others, 
these  plates  show  printing  as  an  art  in  its  infancy,  and  hold 
out  very  little  prospect  of  its  ever  growing  up  !  The  Specu- 
lum may  have  been  executed  at  Utrecht  some  time  between 
1471  and  1473.  The  other  fragments  of  which  Holtrop 
shows  facsimiles  are  those  of  books  or  editions  brought  out 
before  the  latter  year,  perhaps  all  from  one  printing-office, 
perhaps  from  different  printers.^  In  these  early  fragments 
and  a  few  complete  books,  about  eight  different  fonts  of  type 
are  found ;  and  with  these  types  perhaps  eighty  different 
editions  were  printed.  The  gothic  types  used  in  these  books 
were  the  first  models  of  the  style  of  black-letter  which  we 
recognize  as  characteristic  of  the  country  {fig.  4l). 

But  the  Speculum  and  its  mysterious  companions  are  not 
the  books  from  which  Dutch  printing  is  scientifically  dated. 
Ketelaer  and  Leempt,  who  printed  two  books  in  Utrecht 
in  1473,  were  the  first  printers  in  Holland  who  dated  their 

'  Holtrop,  pi.  13  [49]  .  *  Ibid.,  pi.  121  [4] . 

'i&/c^.,pls.  17  [19] -22  [1]. 

The  pictures  were  printed  in  brown  ink,  in  one  impression,  and  the  type, 
which  was  of  uneven  lieight  and  indented  tlic  paper  badly,  at  another  print- 
ing. Two  of  the  four  copies  are  in  Dutch  prose,  two  in  I^tin  verse.  Some 
turned  letters  in  the  text  show  that  it  is  printed  from  movable  types,  and  is 
not  a  block-book. 

'Holtrop,  pis.  24  [37] -33  [97]. 


1 


i^  «r¥w   "-'^     «-^  M^.     Q*    "sa  -  ■ 


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^mntittf  a  lagc  tieutto  poflina  ftcunlr  _ 

^  ic  fciro  feflitm  rciJtitt  tawf  (ffltminata 
milro  ffrnnda  pbrt  will  rc^tite  gnufam 

i  fotinx  ui  If  ante  gco  ti  ii^m  lonja 

^  rrb^t  3Di  nuUu  ti  e  fii:gi^  foriti  ctum 
fi  ir  tam5  inlmltO  f|  ^ct^nc  xitgro  miflCi 
-^  ^Dita  mum  Ico  forit  tui  xitrp  fod^  mm 
^  ic  Ico  Gc  oico  xc  fe  fonC  omtie  ccrt^tii 
<|E  t  guanto^  mmc  olui  ts^txitat  immgf 

tum  2  imm  trioi^  atolcrr  g  ibltQ 
t)plrs  ptirt  itirei^iti  l^upirirp  KpinQ 
im(tddulm0frifi 

!met$$  mum  lea  patc^  liic  oleorp  Iroij^ 
ctrm  tircba  leo  e  xii  Eanti  abf^  Ciipino 
rb  lolrd  luti  imm  foleoi^aleorp  (iupinii 
i  queo  bunt?  fiadt  til  in  tu  plarp  vel^W 
at  li^ro  nig  mm  gt  fio:tmat  xibiQi fiiptnu 
£:  ^i  nil  (f  mouic^  fiad?0  tit  ni!  (iiga^tf  (^ 
gdpc  pa0  la  &  fe  la  tol  t^o!  ag  cog  ^  a  Te 
atmueo  mutS  fourolautil  fcb  amittii 
$  amtdte  font  Ibluo  uF  uobio  lat  uiii 

tt  km  Tume  (atfi  laua  lotS  patiai  paOtt 
g  ur  (O8n(t*0  lat  tmm  frgdtce  frpultii . 
imeo  t^i  tat  Urn  but  canntttco  i9i  |t 
^  i  mm  tantr  pcri^  )3OPlt0  nS  bmtiam 
q)  ut  0  ri  fo  It  3)  trmauttn:^  ire  warn 
t^tttotttp  gro  lea  uFqueo  Fneo  otttu 

41.  Gothic  Type  used  by  Printer  of  the  Speculum^  c.  1471 
From  Doctrinale  of  Alexander  Gallus 


NETHERLANDS:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  95 

books.  Pollard,  in  his  series  of  valuable  introductory  notes 
to  the  national  divisions  of  his  Catalogue  of  the  Hawkins 
Collection,  says :  "From  1473  onw  ards,  the  history  of  print- 
ing in  Holland  is  normal  and  straightforward,  native  and 
German  printers  being  found  working  simultaneously  in 
the  usual  \a  ay.  Presses  m  ere  set  up  in  thirteen  places  after 
1473, —  in  Deventer,  Delft,  and  Gouda  in  1477,  in  S.  Mar- 
tijnsdijk  in  Zeeland  in  1478,  in  Nijmegen  and  Zwolle  in 
1479,  in  Hasselt  in  Overijssel  in  1480,  in  Leiden,  Kuilen- 
burg,  and  Haarlem  in  1488,  in  's  Hertogenbosch  (Bois-le- 
duc)  in  1484,  in  Schoonhoven  in  1485,  and  in  Schiedam  in 
1498.  Seven  of  these  towns  \\ere  only  visited  by  a  single 
printer.  At  Utrecht,  Delft,  Gouda,  and  ZuoUe  there  was 
a  moderate  output.  The  only  really  prolific  printers  were 
Richard  Paffraet  and  Jacobus  de  Breda  at  Deventer,  who 
must  have  produced  between  them  over  five  hundred  incu- 
nabula, though  most  of  these  were  small  educational  books. 
The  total  Dutch  output  at  present  registered  may  be 
roughly  estimated  at  between  eleven  and  twelve  hundred, 
its  characteristics  being  akin  to  those  of  Germany,  but  with 
a  much  greater  proportion  of  schoolbooks,  and  strikingly 
few  large  folios." 

"Printing  ^a  as  introduced  into  seven  towns  within  the 
limits  of  modern  Belgium  in  the  fifteenth  century,"  says  Mr. 
Pollard  in  the  same  volume,  "into  Alost  in  1473;  the  next 
year  into  Louvain,  where  much  excellent  work  was  done 
by  Johann  of  Paderborn  ;  into  Bruges,  by  Caxton  and  Colard 
Mansion,  probably  in  1475;  into  Brussels,  by  the  Brothers 
of  the  Common  Life,  in  March  of  the  same  year.  After  a 
long  interval  printing  began  at  Audenarde  in  1480,  and 
at  Antwerp  a  year  later  sdll,  the  rear  being  brought  up  by 
Ghent  in  April,  1483.  Gerard  Leeu's  work  gave  disdnction 
to  Antwerp  as  that  of  Johann  of  Paderborn  did  to  Louvain, 


96  PRINTING  TYPES 

and  these  two  cities  between  them  account  for  over  two- 
thirds  of  the  registered  output  of  'Belgian'  incunabula, 
the  total  of  which  is  probably  somewhat  under  a  thousand. 
Belgium  in  the  fifteenth  century  had,  of  course,  no  separate 
existence,  nor  were  the  boundaries  of  Holland  those  of  the 
modern  kingdom.  It  may  be  noted,  ho\\"ever,  that  in  the 
'Belgian'  books  there  is  a  much  greater  preponderance  of 
Latin  than  in  the  Dutch,  though  a  few  printers  were  tri- 
lingual, printing  in  Flemish,  French,  and  Latin." 

The  Netherlands  fifteenth  century  types  were  chiefly,  as 
has  been  said,  crude  iettres  deforme^  but  later  they  became 
more  refined.  A  few  types  showed  the  influence  of  the  re- 
man letter,  but  pure  roman  letter  was  as  yet  rare.  The  lettre 
batarde  of  France  appears  in  Holland,  uncouth,  irregular, 
badly  aligned,  badly  fitted  on  its  body,  awkward  in  cut,^  al- 
though employed  in  1480  by  Veldener,  who  was  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  printers  of  the  Netherlands.  Thierry 
Martens  of  Alost  and  Antwerp,  the  first  Belgian  printer,  em- 
ployed that  fine  familiar  type,  the  round  Italian  gothic.^ 

Three  black-letter  types  used  in  the  Netherlands  are 
interesting.  The  first  is  the  bold,  coarse  batarde  character 
used  by  Colard  Mansion  at  Bruges  {Jig.  42).  Mansion 
employed  two  kinds  of  type,  a  batarde,  and  a  sort  of  very 
rough  transitional  lettre  de  Jbrjne  {though  sometimes  called 
lettre  de  somme),  which  he  used  in  1477.*  His  batarde  was 
merely  an  imitation  of  the  Burgundian  writing  of  the  period. 
It  was  to  Dutch  printing  just  what  a  letti-e  batarde  was  to 
French  printing  —  a  sort  of  vernacular  type,  dependent  for 
its  form  upon  the  locality  in  which  it  was  found,  and  found 
there  simply  because  based  on  the  writing  which  preceded 
it  in  that  neighbourhood.  The  earliest  of  Mansion's  impres- 

'  Holtrop,  pi.  125  [30] .  '  Ibid.,  pi.  40  [24] . 

'  Ibid.,  pi.  46  [6]  .  *  Ibid.,  pi.  60,  c  [l3l]  . 


^mmt  ami  ^n^xnt  6;tt& 

rctjxn^ftcommc  jf  fern  eg  a 
pace  (xcCittacou  j(  c^i;m  a 
pom^^C^ee  c^fc©  atnft 
)»€mtfc6  j(  eft  6jmpC5  ^  CO? 
ntCttdct  ott  pAxmK  i^\m  ^ 
w>^m  ac^ur  omcc  *<^(  |)ze 
miewmett^  <m$  iM^<i  cc 

42.  Mansion'' s  Ancienne  Batarde^  Bruges^  1484 


NETHERLANDS :  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  97 

sions  show  lines  which  were  not  spaced  out  to  tlie  full 
width  of  the  page.  This  is  one  argument  for  the  independ- 
ence of  the  Netherlands  and  Bruges  school  of  typography 
from  that  of  Mainz ;  for  it  cannot  be  believed  that  if  a  man 
like  Mansion  knew  how  to  use  a  composing  rule  (as  he 
must  have  known,  had  he  ever  been  in  touch  with  Mainz 
printers),  he  would  have  abandoned  it.  He  began  to  print 
before  1476,  and  it  was  only  in  1478  that  properly  spaced 
lines  appear. 

The  second  type  to  which  attention  should  be  paid  is 
that  used  by  Brito  at  Bruges,  and  perhaps  cast  by  him,  and 
later  by  William  de  Machlinia  at  London.  This  type-form 
somewhat  resembles  the  types  used  by  Caxton.  It  is  another 
rough  form  of  the  batarde  letter,  but  without  the  charm  of 
the  French  lettre  batarde  {Jig.  43). 

A  third  type  to  be  remembered  is  the  font  used  by  Bel- 
laert,  to  which  the  English  black-letter  types,  which  later 
became  the  national  English  face  and  size  of  letter,  bear  a 
close  resemblance  {Jig.  44). 

There  is  a  very  interesting  Dutch  gothic  type  shown  in 
the  specimen-book  of  1768  issued  by  Enschede,  the  cele- 
brated Dutch  founder,  which  it  is  believed  was  engraved 
about  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century — between  1470  and 
1480 — a  St.  Augustin  Jiamand  {Jig.  45).  It  was  probably 
cut  by  a  Dutch  printer  and  type-cutter,  Henric  of  Delft,  who 
called  himself,  in  the  colophons  to  his  works,  letter- snider, 
or  graver  of  characters,  and  who  furnished  types  to  sev- 
eral printers.  We  have  records  of  this  font  being  employed 
in  Paris  printing-offices.  A  letter  much  the  same  in  cut,  of 
gros-romain  size,  may  also  be  seen  on  the  last  page  of  En- 
schede's  specimen  of  1768  {Jig.  46). 

As  for  fifteenth  century  roman  fonts  in  the  Low  Coun- 
tries, John  of  Westphalia,  at  Louvain,  employed  a  very  dis- 


98  PRINTING  TYPES 

tinguished  roman  letter,  Italian  in  effect,  and  evidently  de- 
rived from  an  Italian  source  {Jig.  47).  Another  roman  font 
which  is  of  interest,  with  a  charming  quality  of  pen-work 
about  it,  is  the  St.  Augiistin  roma'in^  considered  by  Enschede 
as  older  even  than  the  Flemish  character  cut  by  Henric  the 
letter-snider.  The  man  from  whom  Enschede  bought  it  in 
1768,  Jacques  Scheffers  (a  printer  at  Bois-le-Duc,  where 
his  ancestors  had  practised  their  trade  for  a  long  time),  ^\as, 
according  to  tradition,  a  descendant  of  Peter  Schoeffer  of 
Gernsheim.  Enschede,  when  he  bought  some  sixty  matrices 
from  Scheffers,  purchased  a  copy  of  a  book  printed  by 
Schoeffer  himself;  and  believed  that  these  punches  actually 
came  from  Peter  Schoeffer.  This  point  cannot  be  decided ; 
but  the  types  have  great  charm.  In  recent  years  the  Messrs. 
Enschede  completed  the  defective  font,  some  missing  letters 
being  obtained  by  adding  to  or  subtracting  from  existing 
characters,  and  when  this  was  not  feasible,  a  few  new  letters 
being  cut  in  the  style  of  the  old  ones.^  Our  plate  shows  this 
reconstitution  of  the  font  {jig.  48). 

The  output  of  the  fifteenth  century  Netherlands  press  is 
historically  interesting,  but  artistically  monotonous.  It  is  dif- 
ficult to  be  enthusiastic  over  these  fonts,  which  contrast 
unfavourably  with  better  types  of  similar  style  in  other 
countries.  But  their  historical  interest  is  indubitable.  They 
form  a  link  between  the  Continent  and  England,  and  are 
the  starting-point  of  English  typography. 

'  See  Ch.  Enschede's  Fonderies  de  CaractiTes  et  leur  Materiel  dans  les  Pays- 
Bas  du  XFe  au  XIX*^  si^cle,  Haarlem,  1908,  pp.  30,  31,  and  32.  For  a  sur- 
vey of  fifteenth  century  Dutch  types  this  work  will  be  found  of  great  value. 


Cpi«mi«te«mcnt  pout  [c^ 
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jH  §      Letterproefte  vergelyken;nademaal  thansde-Lettergieteryalhier  in  Haarlem,  0  jU. 

*M  V      deGehoorteplaatsderBoekdrukkonftjtotdegrootftevolmaaktheidgebragt  is.  y  ?• 

%\^  ._>§§ 

45.  Fifteenth  Century  Saint  Augustin  Flamand:  Ensched^'s 
Proefvan  Letteren^  Haarlem^  1768 


Gothife  Monnikke  Letteren. 
Oude  HoUandfe  Letteren,  van  1470  k  1480. 

onferbeljouOmilTe*  + 

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0    It  mefrtie  letat  frile  blencbe 

alft  ttetre  m  Die  etaiglje  tvoit 
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gbeuele  mefrtie  Oit  boecbljeb  aeffe 
Oartjtte  ugaDerelttOe  ttjelbe  Die  gfte 
neOietleTenleringljeglieue  en  otf  an 
gbe  fellen*  |c  umoeDe  Oatg^een  Dmc 
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erDigt)eIeue*Oantebebeneftin  fee 
Ipr  fp  eouDieie  en  epgbe  mef  en*i^ 

Abbreviatuuren. 

^^/e^utti$ogStp0tpntptD:op$untp 

Deeze   Letteren,  en  voornaanienlyk  de  Matryzen, 
zyn  ongemeen  raar  en  zeldzaam. 


46.  Fifteenth  Century  Gros-Romain  Flamand :  Enschedd'' s 
Proef  van  Letteren^  Haarlem^  1768 


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BERNARDVS  NERLIVS  PETRO  MEDICAE  LAVRENTII 

HLIO.S. 

Vm  doftiffimorum  bominum  8^  borum  grauiffimof  um  fen- 

tentia:  gr^cas  litteras  non  folum  latinis  plurimum  omamenti 

afferre:  Sed  etiam  pemcceflarias  efTe  animaduerterem:  omni 

ftudio  ac  labore  ad  b^c  ftudia  percipienda  me  conuerti.  Sed  cu 

uiderem  non  nullos  litterarum  gr^carum  ftudiofos  ob  inopia5 

librorum  magno  affici  icomodo:  qd  &  ipfe  una  cumilIisexpiebar:oper^prc- 

rium  me  fafturum  exiftimaui:  (i  eadem  ratione  turn  borum  tum  mepncomo 

ditati  occurrerem:  qua  larinas  litteras  difcentibus  iam  pridem  confultum efle 

uidebam,  Itaqj  ut  &  de  gr^cis  litteris  bene  mererer:  &  earum  ftudiofis  aJiquo 

modo  prodeffem:  utqj  alii  copia  librorum  allefti:  ad  bee  ftudia  magis  incitare 

tur:  decreui  gr^cum  aliquem  auftorem:  qui  et  apudeos  nobiliffimus  effet:  & 

nobis  difcentibus  perutilis  foret:  imprimendum  fufdpere.  Quod  et  fiarduu5 

&  perdifficile  uidebatur:  tamen  cum  ea  que  ad  boc  opus  conficiudu  neceflaria 

erant:  in  bac  noftra  ciuitate  concurrerent:  eiufmodi  occafionem  minime  pr^ 

termittendam  putaui.  Nam  ut  omittam  Nerii  fratris  liberalitate5:&  loannis 

Accaioli  auxilium:  Demetriiq;  Cretenfisdexteritatem:  id  inprimismibi  opor 

tunum  fuit:  maximeqj  optatum:  quod  ad  banc  rem  Demetrium  Cbalcondyle 

Atbenienfem  naftus  eram:  Virum  profefto  tempeftate  noftra  doftiffimum: 

preceptoremq;  meum:  a  quo  buiusmodi  opusaccuratiffimerecognofcipoffet. 

Perdifficile  enim  mibi  uidebatur  fine  eruditiffimo  uiro  id  operis  caftigatiffi- 

48.  Fifteenth  Century  Roman  Type  attributed  to  Schoeffer 
(as  reconstituted  by  Knschede) 


CHAPTER  VIII 

TYPE  AND  TYPE-FORMS  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY 

IN  SPAIN 

j4  LTHOUGH  Spanish  typography  has  not  had  much 
/  %  influence  on  printing  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  it 
JL  JL.  is  both  interesting  and  extremely  individual.  For 
the  most  part,  the  first  printers  both  in  Spain  and  Portugal 
were  wandering  Germans,  who  brought  to  the  Iberian  Pe- 
ninsula, as  they  did  to  so  many  other  parts  of  Europe,  their 
knowledge  of  the  new  art.  The  introduction  of  printing  was, 
however,  rather  late, — not  until  the  year  1474, —  and  for  that 
reason  we  do  not  find  in  either  countr}-,  as  Haebler^  says, 
"those  precursors  of  the  typographic  art — woodcuts  ac- 
companied by  text  more  or  less  '  padded,'  nor  xylographic 
books,  of  which  we  find  so  many  examples  in  Germany  and 
the  Netherlands."  He  adds  that  if  Spanish  books  were  some- 
times rather  archaic  in  appearance,  this  was  due  to  unskilled 
workmen  rather  than  to  the  state  of  the  art  when  introduced 
in  Spain  ;  for  typography,  when  brought  there,  was  no  longer 
in  its  experimental  stage,  but  a  developed  industry.  The 
Spaniards  very  early  occupied  themselves  with  this  new 
trade,  and  established  workshops  quite  independently  of  the 
German  printers ;  but  the  first  printer  who  came  to  Spain 
was  of  German  or  Flemish  origin,  and  the  printing-houses 
most  distinguished  for  the  excellence  of  their  work  were 
either  actually  directed  by  Germans  or  else  inaugurated 
under  a  German  master. 

The  chief  output  of  the  Spanish  press  was,  as  one  might 
guess,  theological,  and  the  clergy  played  an  important  part 
in  the  propagation  of  typography.  Besides  missals  and  bre- 
viaries, of  which  no  copies  are  extant,  and  which  are  known 

Tyfiograjihie  Iberique,  p.  1. 


100  PRINTING  TYPES 

only  from  existing  records,  there  were  a  very  large  number 
of  liturgical  books  printed  in  Spain  up  to  1500,  and  an  enor- 
mous production  of  forms  for  indulgences.  Even  so,  in  ad- 
dition to  these,  similar  books  and  documents  were  constantly 
procured  from  abroad — and  for  a  long  time  continued  to 
be — because  there  were  not  enough  printing-houses  in  the 
Peninsula  to  produce  them  in  sufficient  quantities.  As  in 
other  parts  of  the  \\'orld,  monasteries  established  printing- 
offices  in  their  precincts,  and  some  of  the  secular  clergy  were 
themselves  printers  ;  while  among  higher  ecclesiastics  there 
were  many  who  bore  the  expense  of  printing  their  own 
works,  or  who  paid  the  cost  of  printing  the  works  of  others. 
Haebler  believes  that  more  books  were  published  by  the  aid 
of  the  clergy  in  Spain  than  in  any  other  country  where 
printing  existed  prior  to  the  Reformation. 

It  has  just  been  said  that  printing  was  introduced  in 
Spain  as  a  developed  art ;  and  it  is  for  that  reason  that  al- 
most all  Spanish  books  have  "signatures" — a  feature  which 
appeared  rather  late  in  English  typography.  Initials  engraved 
on  wood  are  to  be  found  in  Spain  almost  as  early  as  any- 
where else.  And,  too,  as  did  the  Venetians,  Spanish  printers 
enjoyed  "privileges"  which  protected  their  work.  Indeed, 
Spanish  printing-houses  profited  from  almost  all  the  ad- 
vances made  in  typography  in  other  lands.  In  the  commerce 
of  legal  forms,  multiplied  by  the  help  of  printing,  Spain  was 
ahead  of  other  nations. 

"In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  masters  [in  printing]  were 
all  Germans  .  .  .  ,"  says  Haebler,  "it  cannot  be  said  that 
the  style  of  their  production  showed  their  national  origin. 
On  the  contrary,  the  productions  of  Spanish  presses,  from  a 
very  remote  period,  have  something  special  about  them.  At 
a  very  early  date  a  Spanish  style  Mas  developed  which  is 
readily  recognizable  even  in  the  production  of  men  who 


SPAIN:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  101 

were  newcomers  to  Spain.  For  this  reason,  as  we  have  said, 
the  influence  of  a  particular  school  of  printing  cannot  be 
recognized  in  books  printed  in  Spain.  One  finds  types  imi- 
tated from  those  employed  by  the  printers  of  Venice,  Basle, 
and  Lyons,  and  other  types  which  seem  to  ha\e  been  used 
elsewhere.  But  it  is  very  rare  to  find  a  Spanish  book  which 
one  would  suppose  to  have  been  printed  anywhere  else.  I 
know  of  but  one  printer  who  worked  in  Spain  with  an  out- 
fit which  was  decidedly  French,  namely,  Jean  de  Francour 
at  Valladolid.  But  even  he  appears  soon  to  have  changed  his 
fonts  of  type,  and  to  have  adopted  others  of  a  kind  more  in 
accord  with  Spanish  taste. 

"The  Spanish  had  a  marked  predilection  for  gothic 
characters.  The  first  books  printed  in  Spain,  it  is  true,  are  in 
roman  characters,  but  the  very  master  who  executed  them 
procured  gothic  fonts  some  years  later,  and  employed  them 
to  the  end  of  his  career.  If  we  were  to  count  up  the  books 
printed  in  gothic  characters  and  compare  them  with  those 
in  roman  types,  we  should  find  that  the  majority  printed  in 
gothic  is  enormous.  Nevertheless,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  number  of  roman  fonts  which,  one  by  one,  have 
been  discovered  in  books  printed  in  Spain,  is  quite  consider- 
able. It  is  of  course  true  that  only  one  of  all  the  printing- 
houses  of  Spain  produced  books  in  quantity  printed  in  ro- 
man types.  This  was  the  anonymous  printer  of  Salamanca, 
and  it  is  easy  to  explain  this  peculiarity :  for  that  estab- 
lishment was  under  the  influence,  perhaps  actually  under 
the  direction,  of  Aelius  Antonius  Nebrissensis,  who  printed 
classical  texts  and  his  own  commentaries  on  the  writers  of 
antiquity,  following  the  lead  of  the  Humanists  of  Italy.  The 
books  of  the  latter  were  commonly  printed  in  roman  char- 
acters (which  were,  on  that  account,  called  Italian),  which 
accounts  for  the  isolated  fact  that  so  many  books  in  roman 


102  PRINTING  TYPES 

characters  were  printed  in  this  particular  city.  In  the  rest  of 
Spain  books  in  Italian  characters  were  uncommon.  Almost 
all  printing-houses  of  importance  had  one  or  two  fonts  of 
roman.  But  the  number  of  books  printed  in  those  types  was 
exceedingly  small;  and  such  fonts  were  rarely  renewed; 
while  gothic  fonts  (from  the  very  beginning  stocked  in 
greater  quantities)  were  renewed  and  revamped  very  fre- 
quently."^ 

This  statement  brings  up  an  interesting  point,  i.e.,  that 
in  spite  of  the  German  origin  of  printers  who  came  to  work 
in  Spain,  their  style  soon  became  something  characteris- 
ticallv  Spanish.  In  looking  through  Spanish  incunabula,  one 
feels  that  it  is  a  very  special  school  of  typography;  rugged 
yet  effectiA  e,  and  reminiscent,  to  one  who  knows  Spain,  of 
its  rough,  careless  splendour,  its  grave,  sad  magnificence. 
The  finest  productions  of  the  Spanish  press  before  1500 
are  scarcely  second  to  the  best  contemporary  work  done 
in  Germany  and  Italy,  and  this  Spanish  quality  existed 
particularly,  perhaps,  in  these  incunabula.  But  it  is  also 
extremely  apparent  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century 
in  the  production  of  the  first  modern  Spanish  type-cutters, 
who  somehow,  even  when  copying  the  ornaments  of  Bas- 
kerville  and  Caslon,  and  the  types  and  decorations  of  Four- 
nier,  put  into  them  a  Spanish  flavour  which  makes  it  quite 
clear  that  they  are  Spanish  and  can  be  nothing  else. 

Tyfiografihie  Iberique  du  Quinzi^me  Sicclc,  1902,  p.  2.  Haebler's  books  on 
Spanish  printing  are  the  works  most  available  to  tlie  European  and  Ejig- 
lish  student.  His  Tyfiografihie  Iherique  du  Quinzi^rne  Sit^c/e  (in  Spanish  and 
French)  — a  work  specially  valuable  for  its  facsimiles  of  almost  all  the  types 
at  present  known  to  have  been  used  in  Spain  and  Portugal  up  to  the  year 
1500 — has  a  delightfully  clear  and  complete,  though  brief,  prefatory  notice 
of  the  introduction  of  tyjjography  in  the  Peninsula.  The  same  author's  £or/y 
Printers  of  S/uiin  and Portn^fcd  (Bibliographical  Society's  Monographs,  No. 
IV,  I>ondon,  1897)  was  written  in  English  five  years  earlier.  It  is  excellent, 
though  not  so  conii)rehensive. 


SPAIN:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  103 

Pollard,  in  his  Early  Printed  Books  in  the  Bntish  Museum, 
takes  up  the  cities  in  Spain  in  which  printing  was  estab- 
lished from  the  date  of  its  introduction  at  Valencia  in  1474, 
to  the  last  year  of  the  fifteenth  century;  and  in  the  notes 
describing  the  types  of  Spanish  printers,  he  constantly  al- 
ludes to  the  material  of  presses  in  other  countries  which 
these  Spanish  types  recall.  It  is  plain  that  many  of  the  types 
were  from  foreign  sources ;  and  yet  there  are  some  which 
do  not  resemble  any  foreign  types  and  seem  to  be  of  Spanish 
workmanship.  These,  it  is  to  be  supposed,  were  cut  by  the 
early  printers,  who  were,  as  elsewhere  at  this  period,  type- 
cutters  too.  But  even  this  does  not  wholly  account  for  that 
particularly  Spanish  quality  which  crept  into  so  much  of  the 
work  of  men  from  other  nations,  often  using  types  derived 
from  other  countries.  One  can  explain  it  only  by  the  influ- 
ence of  Spanish  manuscripts  and  the  national  school  of  writ- 
ing in  which  they  were  executed,  which  were  —  as  was 
printing — governed  by  the  subtle  influences  emanating 
from  the  soil  and  skies  of  Spain  itself — the  ethos  of  a  coun- 
try to  the  last  degree  individual,  which  therefore  showed 
itself  very  markedly  even  in  work  which  would  not  appear 
capable  of  such  impregnation.  Many  of  these  early  German 
printers  married  Spanish  women,  and  in  a  generation  be- 
came completely  merged  in  the  land  of  their  adoption.  This 
was  not  an  isolated  instance  of  such  Spanish  assimilation. 
In  the  third  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  large  agricul- 
tural colonies  of  Bavarians — six  thousand  of  them,  grouped 
in  thirteen  villages  (the  chief  of  which  was  called  La  Caro- 
lina) in  the  Sierra  Morena — w^ere  brought  to  Spain  by  min- 
isters of  Carlos  III.  In  a  comparatively  short  period  these 
absolutely  disappeared  from  a  "national"  point  of  view,  and 
became  merged  in  the  Spanish  population.  Later  in  the 
same  reign,  a  great  many  English,  Scotch,  and  Irish  were 


104  PRINTING  TYPES 

established  in  Seville  and  Madrid  to  direct  or  take  part  in 
the  new  manufactories  or  industries  which  the  Government 
was  establishing.  In  Madrid  these  families  practically  died 
out,  or  else  were  assimilated  by  the  Spanish:  for  the  spirit 
of  the  country  seems  always  to  have  become  too  strong  for 
the  foreigner. 

The  decorative  features  of  Spanish  incunabula,  too,  show, 
like  their  types,  certain  marked  Spanish  peculiarities.  The 
fifteenth  century  title-pages  are  often  very  magnificent ;  and 
this  magnificence  of  effect  is  usually  arrived  at  by  large  and 
splendid  decorations  placed  above  very  meagre  titles.  On 
the  title-page  of  Vagad's  C?vmca  de  Aragon^  printed  by 
Pablo  Hurus,  at  Saragossa  (1499),  an  enormous  decorative 
woodcut  appears  above  a  title  in  black-letter,  consisting  of 
but  three  words!  This  was  entirely  in  consonance  with  the 
huge  decorations  and  heraldic  bearings  commonly  used  in 
all  departments  of  Spanish  art — churches  with  their  entire 
fronts  covered  by  a  coat  of  arms,  the  door  of  the  church 
being  as  subsidiary  to  the  decoration  above  it  as  was  a  title  to 
the  decoration  on  a  title-page.  These  heraldic  emblems  were 
characteristic — cosas  de  Espana — for,  as  Ford  says,  "few 
countries  can  vie  with  Spanish  heraldic  pride  and  heraldic 
literature."  What  Spaniards  did  in  books  was  only  what 
they  did  in  architecture  —  they  printed  as  they  built  — 
another  instance  of  the  interlocking  of  the  artistic  side  of 
printing  with  the  art  of  a  given  period.  Then,  too,  in  some 
of  the  borders  to  printed  pages,  we  see  ornament  which  is 
reminiscent  of  Saracenic  or  Arabesque  design ;  and  this 
again  seems  to  reflect 

— sad  stories  of  the  death  of  kings. 

In  other  words,  the  characteristic  of  Spanish  printing  was 
that  it  was  so  essentially  Spanish  —  more  obviously  "Span- 


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SPAIN:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  105 

ish,"  it  seems  to  me,  than  Italian  printing  was  "Italian," 
or  French  printing  was  "French,"  perhaps  because  the 
nationality  of  Spain  is  more  intense  than  that  of  any  other 
country  (or  Latin  country)  of  Europe.  A  friend  who  read 
these  lines  said  to  me,  "What  is  meant  b}^  'essentially 
Spanish '?"  But  like  the  flavour  of  olives,  "Spanish"  cannot 
be  described ! 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  Valencia 
was  a  great  seat  of  foreign  commerce,  and,  like  Lyons,  a 
meeting-place  for  foreigners ;  it  was  therefore  natural  that, 
printing  having  been  brought  to  Spain  by  foreigners,  the 
first  Spanish  press  should  be  set  up  in  Valencia.  It  was  es- 
tablished by  Lambert  Palmart,  who  was  probably  of  Flem- 
ish origin,  and  who  produced  at  this  press  some  fifteen 
books.  What  is  generally  thought  to  be  the  first  book  printed 
in  Spain  —  Fenollar's  Obres  e  trohes — a  collection  of  poems 
in  honour  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  though  undated,  was  prob- 
ably issued  in  1474.  It  was  printed  in  a  rough  roman  type. 
Five  books  w^ere  printed  in  this  roman  font  by  Palmart,  of 
which  the  earliest  with  a  date  was  the  Comprehensonum^ 
issued  in  1475  {^fig.  49).  He  then  procured  gothic  types, 
in  which  he  continued  to  print  until  the  end  of  his  career. 
One  characteristic  of  his  work  is  the  extreme  leading  of 
the  type  in  some  of  his  books,  which  gives  them  an  effect 
not  at  all  consonant  with  ordinary  ideas  of  fifteenth  century 
printing.  When  prindng  his  Biblia  Falenciana  in  1477-78, 
a  Spanish  printer  was  in  association  with  him,  Alonso  Fer- 
nandez de  Cordoba,  who  also  printed  on  his  own  account. 
Fernandez  de  Cordoba  was  a  silversmith  by  trade,  and  prob- 
ably cut  the  punches  of  the  gothic  types  employed  in  the 
Bible.  Palmart  died  in  1490. 

The  second  press  in  Spain  was  set  up  at  Saragossa  in 
the  autumn  of  1475,  by  a  certain  Matthaeus  of  Flanders, 


106  PRINTING  TYPES 

who  printed  the  first  book  in  Spain  in  which  its  printer's 
name  is  given  —  an  edition  oi  Mampidiis  Curatoriim  —  Pal- 
mart's  books  before  1477  being  without  an  imprint.  A^ery 
litde  is  known  of  Matthaeus,  who  thenceforth  vanishes  from 
view. 

The  other  chief  cities  out  of  the  twenty-four  in  which 
printing  was  introduced  between  1474  (the  probable  date 
of  its  introduction)  and  the  end  of  the  century,  were  Seville, 
Barcelona,  Salamanca,  Burgos,  Toledo,  Valladolid,  and 
Granada — Madrid  having  no  prindng-press  until  the 
Court  had  its  permanent  seat  there  in  1565.  The  most 
famous  of  these  Spanish  printing-houses  were  the  Burgos 
press  of  Fadrique  de  Basilea  (Friedrich  Biel  of  Basle) ;  the 
Saragossa  press  of  Juan  and  Pablo  Hurus  of  Constance; 
that  at  Seville  belonging  to  Ungut  and  Stanislaus,  and  the 
establishment  of  the  Unknown  Printer  of  Salamanca.  Ar- 
nald  Guillen  de  Brocar  of  Pamplona  should  be  mentioned, 
although  his  fame  came  to  him  in  the  next  century  as 
printer  of  the  Complutensian  Polyglot ;  for  which  he  was 
called  to  Alcala.  Of  these  presses,  those  at  Seville  and  Va- 
lencia were  among  the  most  productive.  That  of  Salamanca 
is  interesting  for  its  classical  books  issued  in  roman  type. 
Some  of  the  best  work  was  done  in  the  office  of  Pablo 
Hurus  at  Saragossa,  where  illustrated  volumes  were  brought 
out;  the  Officia  Qiiotidiana  issued  in  the  year  1500  by  his 
successor,  Coci,  Haebler  calls  one  of  the  finest  specimens 
of  work  executed  at  any  time  and  at  any  place  in  the  world. 

The  first  book  printed  in  Spain  was  from  a  font  of  coarse 
roman  letter,  but  the  rank  and  file  of  Spanish  work  was 
executed  in  a  round,  massive  black-letter.  This  was  some- 
thing like  the  Italian  black-letter  of  the  same  period,  but 
had  a  peculiar  Spanish  twist  to  it.  It  was  based  on  a  round 
Spanish  book-hand.  The  larger  sizes  of  this  type  were  ex- 


SPAIN:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  107 

ceedingly  fine,  especially  in  Huius's  work;  and  on  tide- 
pages  and  for  head-lines  of  chapters,  large  sizes  were  used 
with  very  imposing  effect.  There  were  also  many  some- 
what condensed  pointed  gothic  fonts  of  great  richness  of 
colour,  almost  like  the  handwriting  of  a  manuscript  as  con- 
trasted with  rounder  and  more  typically  Spanish  forms. 
Except  for  a  few  quartos,  most  of  the  books  were  set  in 
double  column.  By  referring  to  the  plates  in  Haebler's  Ty- 
pogi'aphle  Iberique  one  can  get  a  very  clear  idea  of  what  fif- 
teenth century  Spanish  types  and  composition  were.  Many 
of  the  volumes  to  be  referred  to  came  from  the  well-known 
presses  just  mentioned. 

As  roman  characters  were  the  first  used  in  Spain,  though 
less  interesting  than  gothic  types,  we  will  consider  them 
first.  The  roman  type  used  by  the  prototypographer  Pai- 
mart  at  Valencia,  in  1475,  in  the  Comprehensorium  was,  as 
our  plate  shows,  of  a  very  rough  sort ;  and  another  roman 
font  used  in  the  Commentum  Ethiconim  of  Saint  Thomas 
Aquinas,  printed  by  Spindeler  and  Brun  at  Barcelona  in 
1478,  also  is  of  an  extremely  primitive  style.^  In  Villanova's 
Rudimenta  Grammaticx^  printed  by  Spindeler  at  Valencia 
in  1500,  we  have  a  more  regular  type,  better  fitted,  but  of 
a  heavy  cut — this  heaviness  being  a  mark  of  many  Span- 
ish roman  fonts  {Jig.  50).  The  Unknown  Printer  of  Sala- 
manca employed  a  rom.an  font  with  a  certain  condensed 
quality,  which  points  to  derivation  from  Gothic  charac- 
ters. This  he  used  in  the  Grammatica  of  Fliscus  about 
1485.^  The  very  virile  roman  font  employed  at  Burgos 
about  1497  by  Fadrique  de  Basilea  in  the  De  HispaniaB 
Laudibus  of  Marineus  Siculus  shows  a  distinct  advance 
in  its  type-cutting  and  fitting;  but  in  eifect  it  is  almost  as 
heavy  as  black-letter.^  This  is  true  of  a  font  used  in  the 

^  Tyfiografihie  Iberique,  No.  12.  "" Bid.,  No.  34.  ^ Ibid.,  No.  51. 


108  PRINTING  TYPES 

same  printer's  Latin  edition  of  Brant's  Stultiferse  jXaves, 
though  the  massive  appearance  of  such  close-set  t3pe  cer- 
tainly accords  well  with  the  woodcut  above  it  {Jig.  5l). 
These  very  heavy  roman  fonts  are  evidently  Spanish  ren- 
derings of  Italian  type  of  that  epoch,  but  renderings  "with 
a  difference."  In  the  Ungut  and  Stanislaus  edition  of  Al- 
fonso de  Palencia's  Epistula  de  Btllo  Granatensi  (Seville,  no 
date),  we  have  a  fine  roman  font  which  is  even  more  Italian 
in  effect  {Jig.  52).  In  many  of  these  pages,  gothic  types, 
for  head-lines,  etc.,  are  mixed  with  roman ;  the  excessive 
colour  of  the  roman  fonts  making  this  less  discordant  than 
would  be  expected. 

The  gothic  types  used  by  Palmart  were  a  somewhat 
round  yet  slightly  condensed  black-letter — but  by  no  means 
as  ivund  as  some  other  Spanish  gothic  fonts.  A  page  from 
the  Cosmographia  of  Pomponius  Mela,  printed  by  Palmart 
in  1482,  is  composed  in  two  sizes  of  this  tj-pe  {Jg.  53).  By 
comparing  this  Avith  such  type  as  was  used  in  the  Espejo 
de  la  Cruz  by  Cavalca,  printed  by  Martinez  at  Seville  in 
1486,  we  see  what  this  gothic  type  so  much  used  in  Spain 
was  in  rounder  form.^  A  splendid  example  of  it  appears  in 
the  Manuale  Burgense^'  printed  at  Saragossa  in  1497  by 
Hums,  whose  books  are  among  the  most  workmanlike  and 
interesting  of  the  early  Spanish  press.  An  even  finer  font 
of  round  gothic  was  that  employed  by  Brocar  at  Pam- 
plona in  the  Libros  Menores  of  1499,  shown  in  our  illus- 
tration {Jig.  54).  Small  sizes  of  this  character  were  used 
in  the  Carcel  de  Amor  of  San  Pedro,  printed  at  Burgos  by 
Fadrique  de  Basilea  in  1496.^ 

More  condensed  kinds  of  black-letter  (like  the  French 
lettre  de  Jorme)  were  also  employed  by  the  same  printer  in 
1493,  in  the  Introductionum  Latinarum,  Secunda  Editio^  of 

'  Tyfiografihie  Iberique,  No.  9.  * Eid.,  No.  75.  ^ Ibid.,  No.  50. 


Partes  g^amn* 


DSemarof  ^iUanoua  nauarroin 
artib^  niagiftri^ct  m  faaa  tbcolo 
gia  bacballari)  ruoimenta  artie 
giammaticc  pcrutilia  mcipiunt. 

T^aniatica  eft-are  recte  !o 

qucndi  refte(cribcndL're<ftequc  fcrlpta 
flit  pnuciandi:dl<^  imtiura  fidfundamen 

tu  omnium  difciplinarum;poeta^&au 

tofum  leaionib''  obferuata  |£  Partes  Wramaticac  funt 
Qiiatuor:?  Littera^SylIaba^Di<5tio>&  Of  o  fi"  Littera 
cftmiiiima pars  vocis conpoitae^vt^a^b^ f[ Di(fta ell 
aute  Iittera  quafilegittera^Iegendilterprebcabvei 
a  Ii'tturis-vtquibufdam  placet^  plei-nnq»  antiqui  mce 
ratis  tabulis  fcribere  folebant:&  poflea  delere  C  Alii 
dicunt  a  lino  diflae  Iittcra:  9?  inlbribendo  illinitur? 
hoc  eft  leuiter  inducitur  atrametum  {([Litteras  ctiam 
clementorum  nomine  afiqui  nuncupaucrunt  ad  Cml 
Iitudinem  mundi  eIementorum:qmaij'cut  elementa 
coeuntfa  oiiie  corpus  pcrficmntGcetiam  litter ac  con 
iun<ftx  Iittera  5:  vocem  quaC  corp^  aliquod  conponut 
([Inter  Iitteras  8C  elemeta  hoc  inter  eft  ([  ^  eleraefca 
ppriedicunturipac  pronuntiationes*  |f  Liter«vcro 
funt  notxidC  {igna  clementomma^pronuntiationum 
IJ^  Abufiue  tamen  &  elementa  plitten's:  dC  Iitcra:  pro 
dementis  vocatur  f[Littei'x  accidunttria  nomen/- 
figura^  poteftas>  |j  Nomen  litterse  eft  quo  Iittera 
nominatur^a^b^^  J[  Figura  littcraecftqua  httcra 
depingituD  j£  poteftas  Iitterx  eft  ipa  pnuntiario  qua 
valet.  JTLitterarum  alis  funt  vocal es  alisc  funtcofo 
nantcs »  |L Vocalis  eft  iictera  que  p  fe  voccro  gQcit  &    Vocalis 

a  iji» 

50.  Spindeler''s  Roman  Type^  Valencia^  1500 


quod  Elemeta 


Quodaccfduf 
Litrere 
Poteftas  Iittece 


Saphaauditionisfahi:^adnaiieftultifa3giKhcnff# 


tmtes  cafte  uixerut:  no  (blii  uiGotie  fingulare  habebut  t  ueruedl 
dtabutqiiafidricunouuqddicaeaUomnemopotmtneqpm 
nus  deaudim  eiiiCJ^  obiedog[deui(iiaddubitaiierutphi]o(ophi 
y^de  Aulas  geliiisdido  Ii»v«cap«xv»Vctus  atq^ppctua  quxftia 
inter  nobiliflimosphilo{bphoraagitatacft*corpiisncfituoxaa 
afomani*i*incorpor€iuCoip^aiiteftaiiteffidesautj)atij&»Qua 
definitione  Ggnificareuoles  Lucretius  itafoipfit^  Tagereeni  aut 
tangi  nifi  corpus  nulla  potcftres*  Alio  quo^  modo  cofp^ccgra: 
ddicutttripIicidimefionediftans^Seduoceftoici  corpus  effeco* 
toidiitteaqp  effedkuntiduaera^PIatoautenonertcuoce  corpus 
{ftitatfNoncninipaiffusinquit  aer :  {y.plagaip^^  pcraiffio 
uox  eft:  no  tfi  fimplidter  plaga  acris  uox  cft^Na  aigitus  quc)(5  ac» 
rcmperamt:  non  itatameuocefadu  Scdquanta  plaga?,8C  uehe* 
mens  8C  txintaut  audibilis  fiat*  Demooitus  acdeinde  epkurus  ex 
iidiuiduiscorporibusiioccconftaiediamttEamcj  ut  tpfkeocu 

51.  Fadrique  de  Basiled' s  Roman  Type ^  Burgos^  1499 


proculabfpfa  urbefita^Qui'dnon  diruiflct  illam 
numerabiiis  mulatudotut  plurfmu  in  difcriminibus 
bellicis  exercita  c'  Mirabitur  fortaffc  Icfior:  ^uis.  a 
uericate  calamus  nihilo  abfcedat^Duceta  armatoru 
milia  capiebat  intra  fcduitas  Granatcnfis .  Horum 
uix  millc  treccncfi  equites  erant*partim  ex  induftria 
ut  equis  alfmeta  no  deeffent.partim  qm  paruus  iam 
cquoru  nuerus  in  drcuuicinis  urbibus  fupcrat^quu 
in  cogreffionibus  diutumis  equi  no  paud  ceddiffet^ 
6i  ex  Mauritania  nullus  iam  effet  acceffus  ad  trafue 
hendos  in  hifpania  equos^Rex  igitur  Femadus  pro 
culdubio  foelidflimusrrem  difRdilima  aggrcfTus  efi: 
ubi  apte  cognouit  uetercs  padioes  effluxiffe:  iielut  i 
caffum:6c  fub  diuturna  diffimulatione  infideles  que 
fiuiffe  fibi  aliqua  fake  cofidentia  priftinsc  libcrtatis* 
Qua  AIphaquilii:acfideu  coluiffent  profitcbanc^ 
dcliris  hoibus  dto  affutura  •  Nam  populus  ad  fuper 
ftitione  prseceps  rcpcntc  fide  adhibuit*&  tarn  fupbe 
atcp  petulanter  extulit  fe:ut  rex  Boadclis  iunior  ptcr 
mentc  fucrit  coaSus  uulgi  fententia  illico  coprobarc 
g>  (i  forte  uel  morofiusmrianguidius  acccptaflcttfar 
racenico  infultu  dilaccratus  fuiiTct*  I  tacj  aliud  nihil 
fe  (a&wcd  cum  iureiurado  promifitt<|  queritare  aflu 
tius  oportunitatctqua  ualcret  chrifticolas  longa  foe 
tidtate  elates  penitus  cotercretquii  poflet  unlus  diei 
ia&ira  cxterminare  noftrosaam  ad  populationem 
agri  Granatcnfis  intentos: tali  clade*ut  quecuncj  in 
multis  expeditionibusobtinuiffcntrconfcflim  amit 
terencQuibusinfideliu  cognitis  nouitatibusJUu 

52.  Roman  Type  used  by  Ungut  and  Stanislaus,  Seville,  n.d. 


^pponii  mellc  cofnwsrsiphi 
oe  fttu  0rbia^  hhcr  pnmua* 

Kbia  (ita  otcere 

aggtepioj  ipcDitu^opuo 

'7  facuDic  minimc  capajc* 

•iConflatenim  fcregenti 

urn  locoiuqjnominibud 

^  C02um  pcrplcjco  farie 

c«t>fncjquem  pcrfcqui  longa  eft  tnagie  $  be 

nisna  matctia:©crum  afpici  tatnE  ccgnof/ 

dq3  Di^mffimum:'?  quoD  ft  non  ope  in^enij 

O2anti0:at  ipfa  fni  conteplationc  p:crm  ope 

atrenDcntiu  abfoluar.^ica  aut^aliae  plura 

n  cxactme:Buc  aSt  vt  queqj  crunt  clatiffi/ 

maer  ftrictim.acpiitnoquio?  que  fit  fosma 

totiu0:que  ma;cfme  pattce.quofinguk  mo 

00  fmtJiPtq^babitemr  expeoil-.S>cmoe  rur/ 

fu9  orae  omnium  crlittoia  K^t  intra  e^ctraq^ 

funt.atq5  vt  ca  fubit  ac  mciiiuit  pclagueiao 

oitis  que  in  natuta  tegion.um  incolaTumq5 

memoranoa  funtx^D  quo  fariliue  fciri  ppU 

m  atq5  acdpi:paulo  altiue  fumma  xtjpzkL 

i^unot  in  quatnor 
panes  biuiiio* 

53.  First  Gothic  Type  used  in  Spain:  Palmart^  Valencia.^  1482 


3l06  libioe  que  en  eftc  volumS 
fcconcnen  fonloe  figuientes. 
<ClC9ton  concl  lib:o  Uiimado  c6^ 
tcro  am  obja  es  t)e  fat  bcmarcio 
i6lflozetoelqualcorienc  fcyepzl 
cipa  lee  partes* 

2la  pjimera  cotieneloe  articulof 
&cnueft:rafaiictafc. 
Ua  fegilda  losoiej  madamt^tos 
2Laaitlo6  fiete  pecados  mojtalcf 
2,aquaita  lo6  fietc  facrafiientos 
Eaquinta  las  piitudcs  morales 
trbcologicae. 

%^,mnoiu  y  laf cofaf $la  mucite 
Conttene  tnaa  las  quinq?  claues 
Ocla  fabiduria  colas  cmco  pjopn' 
cdadesqueaOetencrel  maeftro, 
Centime  las  fablasOcl  cfopo 
iCotiene  mas  los  brmnos  con  o^ 
tros  mucbos  que  faltauan. 
iCotienc  mas  las  lectiones  §  fob 
conel  credo.falue  retina*  el  pater 
nofter.conelaucmana. 

54.  Brocar's  Round  Gothic  Type^  Pamplona^  1499 


.   SPAIN:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  109 

Antonio  de  Nebrija  —  very  elegant  in  the  smaller  size.^  Fine 
pages  set  in  a  still  more  pointed  character  were  produced 
by  Pablo  Hurus  at  Saragossa  in  1496.  The  latter  has  that 
peculiar  quality  of  penwork  which  keeps  cropping  up  in 
Spanish  printing  fonts  {fig.  55). 

Condensation,  and  this  pointed  quality  in  type,  varied 
in  degree.  An  idea  of  the  rich,  massive  quality  of  Span- 
ish black-letter  is  given  by  the  illustration  just  referred  to 
and  by  pages  of  the  Suma  de  Confesion  printed  by  Hurus 
in  1499;"  in  Hagenbach's  Toledan  Missal  of  1500;^  or  in 
the  Leyes  por  la  Brevedad  de  los  Pleitos^  printed  at  Toledo 
by  Hagenbach  about  1499.* 

A  peculiarity  of  composition  in  some  Spanish  books, 
namely,  the  excessive  leading  of  gothic  types,  m»ay  be  seen 
in  the  Valencia  edition  of  the  Epistolx  of  Phalaris,  printed 
in  1496  ;^  or  the  Ecloga  of  Teodulus,  printed  at  Zamora  in 
1492.**  This  was  sometimes  done  to  allow  annotations  or 
"glosses"  to  be  interlined;  hence  a  small  size  of  Spanish 
type  used  for  notes  is  called  glosilla. 

In  early  Spanish  illustrated  books,  Pollard  says  that  "pic- 
torial title-cuts  are  not  so  common  as  in  those  of  other 
countries,  because  of  the  Spanish  fondness  for  filling  the 
title-page  with  an  elaborate  coat  of  arms;"  adding,  how- 
ever, that  "nearly  all  their  early  bookwork  is  strong  and 
effective,  and  the  printer  who  placed  a  cut  on  a  title-page 
nearly  always  secured  a  good  one."''  Spanish  title-pages  are 
interesting,  and  show  certain  peculiarities  in  ornament  and 
arrangement.  For  instance,  white  letters  on  a  black  back- 
ground was  a  very  Spanish  style  of  decorative  writing  — 
a  style  splendidly  employed  later  by  the  calligrapher  Juan 

'  Tyfiografihie  Iberique,  Nos.  48  and  49.  ^ Ibid.,  No.  77. 

'Ibid.,  No.  132.  *Ibid.,  No.  130.  'Ibid.,  No.  19. 

"Ibid.,  No.  37.  '  Pollard's  Fine  Books,  pp.  163,  164. 


110  PRINTING  TYPES 

de  Iciar/  Ungut  and  Stanislaus,  at  Seville,  in  1494,  cleverly 
took  ad\antage  of  it,  in  a  wood-block  for  the  title-page  of 
Coliimna's  Regimento  de  los  PnncipesJ'  There  is  a  similar 
instance  of  white  lettering  on  a  black  background  in  the 
well-known  tide-page  of  ObraAllaors  de  S.  Cnstofol^  printed 
at  Valencia  by  Pedro  Trincher  in  1498.^  Another  book 
printed  by  Ungut  at  Seville  in  1495  —  Liho  de  Medicina — 
has  a  magnificent  title-page  ^\  hich  is  distinctly  Spanish  in 
effect — a  very  important  decoration  bearing  the  Avords  of 
the  title,  with  a  block  of  massive  round  black-letter  beneath 
it  {fig.  56).  The  Salamanca  edition  of  Leyes  del  Quadenw 
nuevo  delas  rentas  delas  alcavalas  z  fraquezas^  etc.,  printed 
about  1496,  with  its  four  lines  of  gothic  text  beneath  an 
immense  and  brilliant  heraldic  shield,  is  reminiscent  of  the 
huge  armorial  bearings  used  in  decoration  in  other  branches 
of  Spanish  art  {fig.  57).  Another  dde-page  in  the  same 
style  is  that  of  Vagad's  Cronica  de  Aragon,  printed  by  Pablo 
Hurus  at  Saragossa  in  1499.*  Then  there  was  a  good  deal 
of  work  in  small  format  treated  in  the  same  way,  such  as 
the  extraordinary  xylographic  title-page  of  Lucena's  Repeti- 
cion  deAmoreSy  e  arte  de  axedres  (Salamanca,  1496), by  Hutz 
and  Sanz.* 

'  Juan  de  Iciar,  Spanish  calligrapher,  and  tlie  designer  of  one  of  the  finest 
writing-books  ever  printed.  It  is  entitled  Recofiilacion  subtilissima :  intitu- 
lada  Orthografihia  firatxca.  Tl\e  first  edition  was  pubHshed  in  1548,  at  Sara- 
gossa. Some  of  the  plates  are  copies  of  those  in  Italian  books,  but  many  of 
them  are  original  with  Iciar.  Mr.  Strange  believes  that  the  iiinning  hands 
in  the  book  show  certain  Moorish  influences.  The  original  volume  is  rare,  but 
])lates  from  it  are  reproduced  in  most  books  on  calligraphy.  There  is  a  short 
account  of  Iciar  in  Sir  William  Sterling  Maxwell's  Annals  of  the  Artists  of 
Sfiain,  and  Mr.  Strange' s  paper,  Writing- Books  of  the  Sixteenth  Century 
(Transactions  of  the  Bibliographical  Society,  Vol.  Ill,  ]).  41 ),  may  also  be 
referred  to. 
'  Early  Printers  of  Sfiain  and  Portugal,  pi.  xxiii. 

l^jjiografihie  Jberique,  No.  155. 
*  Early  /^infers  of  Sfiain,  pi.  xviii.  '^  Ibid.,  pi.  x. 


ir^muto^0fo:i  a:agonttt:aantiqm§!iouifIimi':vr(^at)  feroinanbu 
iBecunOu  rege  aragonw  i  caftcllernunc  fdicitcr  rcgna  rem:  vna  cu  obfcr 
tiaimje  't  t)uab9  cpiftolte:  vna  quioe  fug  Diinfionc  t>ono^:foUito  tnatrt- 
ttionio:altcrav€roceo3t)itic  magiftrat^lufticicaragonii^qm  fiicrccot 
rectirB  egrcgiu  ooctozc  onm  jgonoifTaluu  garlia  Dc  fanaa  maria:  alte- 
nim  e]c  vicanjd^uftide  aragonm  vna  en  oaDinc  tirulora:^  quaf!  resto«> 
ilo:ab  coDcm  Dno  ^onDilTaluorcDito  *  £ttf  )ttflu  impenfifqj  l^uli 
|?iinJ0  ;£6ftatiacnf  *  /Sfmnam'cc  nacionisrapuo  vzbc  Ccfarmigufln: 
fmprcfli,3iioanatimtm%otit,ia&«cccacv>.okwo«v«mc$Suguil^ 


55.  Gothic  Type  used  by  Pablo  Hurus^  Saragossa^  1496 
{reduced) 


JLo  conrcnioocnefre  pzcfcnre  volumcnoc  i5cmar 
00  ©ozoonio  eo  lo  fcguicnrc*  pnmera  mcnrc  los  fie 
re  libzos  que  fe  mrirulan  Eilio  oc  meoicina^Eo  fejii 
oorHas  rablaD  oelos  mgentos*  ilo  rcrccro:  cl  iRegi 
miero  oelas  aguons*  Eo  quarrorel  Eracraooodos 
miios  conel  iRegimienrp  ocl  ama*  Eo  quinro  p  po 
fmmeroiEao  pzonofticas  ♦ 

56.  Title-page  of  Gordonio's  Lilio  de  Medicina:  Ungut  and  Stanislaus 
Seville^  1495  {reduced) 


Ec^cs  Del  iBuaDerno  nueuo  oclas  rentas  Dclaa  alcauaFas 
c  fraquesar.f  ecbo  cnla  vcga  oc  ^ranaDa. t>o:  el  qua!  d  iRef 
cla  iRq^naiiueftros  fifcnoiesreuocantoDasIasotrasIcj^cf^ 
log  otros  quaocmos  fecbos  oe  amee. 


57.  Title-page  of  Leyes  del  ^uiderno.,  etc.^  Salamanca^  c.  1496 

(.reduced) 


SPAIN:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  111 

In  the  Burgos  edition  of  Oiweros  de  Castilla,  printed  by 
Fadrique  de  Basilea,  the  page  of  text  with  its  mass  of  rich 
black-letter  and  decorative  picture  of  an  archbishop  wed- 
ding the  hero  to  the  daughter  of  the  king  of  England,  is 
an  example  of  an  illustrated  edition  of  a  popular  romance  — 
the  kind  over  which  Don  Quixote  lost  his  wits.^  The  cal- 
ligraphic initial,  and  title  in  large,  round  gothic  letters,  are 
reminiscent  of  early  French  printing.  These  title-pages,  cut 
on  wood,  are  common  in  Spanish  books  of  the  time.  The 
opening  page  of  another  famous  story  of  chivalry,  Tirant 
lo  Blanch^  printed  at  Valencia  by  Spindeler  in  1490,  shows 
a  rich  border  with  something  Oriental  about  its  decora- 
tions.^ How  the  illustrations  appeared  when  placed  in  the 
text  may  be  seen  in  San  Pedro's  Carcel  de  Amor  (Rosen - 
bach,  Barcelona,  1493)  and  G.  G.  de  Novarra's  Contem- 
plactones  sobre  el  Rosaiio^  etc.  (Ungut,  Seville,  1495).^  The 
initials  used  in  Spanish  incunabula  were  very  brilliant  in 
effect.  Those  employed  by  the  Unknown  Printer  of  Sala- 
manca in  1498,  1499,  and  1500*  are  fine  and  characteris- 
tic examples. 

Although  of  later  date  than  1500,  there  is  one  example 
of  Spanish  decoration  so  remarkable  in  design  that  I  in- 
clude it  here.  It  is  the  title-page  of  a  small  folio  book  entitled 
Aureiim  opus  regalium  prwilegionim  civitatis  et  regjii  Valen- 
tie — being  the  second  part  of  the  Chronicle  of  Jayme  el 
Conquistador.  This  fine  black-letter  book  was  issued  at 
Valencia  "by  the  art  and  humble  industry  of  Diego  de 
Gumiel"  in  1515  (Jig.  58).  It  exhibits  three  very  Spanish 
features:  (l)  an  heraldic  design  (2)  in  w^hite  on  black  (3) 
above  very  little  text;  and  shows  what  is  meant  by  "Span- 

'  Tyfiogra/ihie  Iberique,  Nos.  52  and  53.  ^  Ibid.,  No.  17. 

'^ Early  Printers  of  S/iain,  pis.  ii  and  xxiv.         *  Ibid.,  pis.  xi  and  xii. 


112  PRINTING  TYPES 

ish"  better  than  any  words  can  do.  It  is  a  very  romantic, 
courageous,  and  effbctive  style  of  decoration/ 

Facsimiles,  however  well  reproduced,  give  very  litde  idea 
of  the  splendour  of  Spanish  incunabula.  The  books  them- 
selves must  be  seen.  Then  only  a  true  idea  of  their  effect  is 
gained.  The  typography  of  these  books  was  comparatively 
simple,  the  sizes  of  type  were  few,  the  decorations  were 
strong  and  masculine,  and  the  composition,  as  a  rule,  so 
compact  that  a  page  of  it  looks  like  some  dark  weave  laid 
upon  a  sheet  of  paper.  I  am  not  saying  that  these  books  are 
the  finest  that  were  ever  printed,  but  they  \\ere  in  one  way 
among  the  finest.  For  if  entire  unity  with  the  life  about  it 
makes  great  printing,  these  books  were  great. 

'  All  the  facsimiles  in  Haebler's  two  books  —  Early  Printers  of  S/iain  and 
Portugal,  and  Ty/iogra/i/iie  Iberique  du  Quinzihne  Steele  —  should  be  looked 
through.  For  a  guide  to  tlie  i-arest  and  most  important  pi-oductions  of  the 
Spanish  press,  the  reader  may  consult  the  Saha  catalogue,  Catdlogo  de  la 
Biblioteca  de  Salvd,  escrito  /lor  D.  Pedro  Salvd  y  Mallen.  A'alencia,  1872. 
2  \ols.  It  is  illustrated  and  also  contains  many  typographical  reproductions 
(not  very  well  done)  of  title-pages  of  tlie  more  famous  works.  For  facsimiles 
without  bibliographical  desci'ijjtions  the  student  ma\'  consult  Bibliografia 
Grajica,  Refiroduccion  en  facsimil  de  fiortadas,  retratos,  colofones  y  otras 
curiosidades,  etc.  Pedro  Vindel,  Madrid,  1910.  2  vols.  Tlie  work  contains 
upwards  of  1200  facsimiles  of  Spanish  printing  and  engraving  from  the  in- 
troduction of  printing  to  the  early  years  of  tlie  nineteentli  centuiy.  It  is  rich 
in  reproductions  of  the  early  woi'k  touched  on  in  the  foregoing  chapter.  A 
guide  to  some  titles  of  fifteenth  century  Spanish  books  is  supjjlied  by  Heniy 
Tliomas's  Short-title  Catalogue  of  Books  firinted  in  S/iain  and  of  Sfianish 
Books  firinted  elsewhere  in  Jiuro/ie  before  1601  now  in  the  British  Museum. 
Ixindon,  1921.  The  Catalogue  of  the  Sfianish  Library  and  of  the  Portuguese 
Bfjoka  bequeathed  by  George  Tickrior  to  the  Boston  Piblic  Library,  together 
with  the  Collection  of  S/ianish  and  Portuguese  Literature  in  the  General  Li- 
brary may  also  be  consulted  for  titles  of  books  to  be  examined.  Tliis  was  pub- 
lished in  1879,  and  since  that  date  many  volumes  ha\e  been  added  to  tlie  col- 
lection. It  contains  a  number  of  books  interesting  to  the  student  of  Spanish 
printing.  'Hie  library  of  the  Hisijano-Amci-ican  Society,  New  York,  is  the  best 
c/)llection  of  Spanish  typograjjhy  which  exists  in  this  country.  It  numbers  over 
100,000  volumes,  and  the  incunabula  (s])lendidly  displayed)  include  many 
rare  and  beautiful  books.  No  printed  catalogue  has  been  published.  The 
Society  has  issued  a  number  of  the  rarest  Spanish  books  in  facsimile. 


WcnmopusrcsalmmpiMc^oiumciuita 
m  tt  rcgni  Balcntie  cum  ^ifto:m  cnlhamlli 


58.  Title-page  of  Aureum  Opus:  Diego  de  Gumiel^  Valencia^  1515 

(reduced^ 


CHAPTER  IX 

TYPE  AND  TYPE-FORMS  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY 
IN   ENGLAND 

PRINTING  was  introduced  in  England  in  1484  by- 
William  Caxton,  who  owes  his  fame,  however,  to 
more  than  the  fact  that  he  was  England's  proto- 
typographer.  For  he  was  not  only  the  first  of  English 
printers — he  was  also  "the  first  in  a  long  line  of  English 
publishers  who  have  been  men  of  letters  .  .  .  and  was  like- 
wise one  of  the  earliest  in  the  succession  of  English  mer- 
chants and  men  of  affairs  who  have  found  recreation  and 
fame  in  the  production  of  literature."^  His  services  to  liter- 
ature in  general,  and  particularly  to  English  literature,  as 
a  translator  and  publisher,  would  have  made  him  a  com- 
manding figure  if  he  had  never  printed  a  single  page.  In 
the  history  of  English  printing  he  would  be  a  commanding 
figure  if  he  had  never  translated  or  published  a  single  book. 
But  with  him  printing  was  not  the  sole  aim ;  and  this  ex- 
plains in  part  why  his  printing  was  not  so  remarkable  as 
his  reputation  might  lead  us  to  expect.  He  was  a  great  Eng- 
lishman, and  among  his  many  activities,  was  a  printer.  But 
he  was  not,  from  a  technical  point  of  view,  a  great  printer. 
For  our  purpose,  a  summary  of  his  life  which  throws  into 
relief  his  typographical  activities  is  enough.  Born  about 
1421,  and  apprenticed  to  a  London  merchant  who  after- 
wards became  Lord  Mayor,  Caxton  some  time  after  1441 
went  to  Burgundy;  being  abroad,  as  he  tells  us  in  1469,  "for 
thirty  years,  for  the  most  part  in  the  countries  of  Brabant, 
Flanders,  Holland,  and  Zealand,"  and  being  for  some  time 
"Governor  to  the  English  Nation"  {i.e.,  English  merchants) 
at  Bruges — the  seat  of  the  Burgundian  court.  After  hold- 

*Winship's  William  Cajcton,  Doves  Press,  Hanimersmitli,  1909. 


114  PRINTING  TYPES 

ing  this  post  with  success,  and  negotiating  some  important 
commercial  arrangements  in  behalf  of  the  English  Crown, 
he  retired  from  active  \\ork,  and  it  \\as  then  that  he  began, 
as  a  pastime,  his  translation  of  the  Reciiyell  of  the  H'lsto- 
ryes  of  Troye — a  French  book  popular  at  court,  written  by 
Raoul  Le  Fevre,  chaplain  to  Philip,  Duke  of  Burgundy.  Of 
this  he  completed  but  little  and  laid  it  aside.  In  1469,  when 
attached  as  secretarj^  to  the  household  of  the  new  Duchess 
of  Burgundy,  sister  to  Edward  IV,  he  happened  to  mention 
his  English  translation,  and  as  the  Duchess  became  inter- 
ested, he  promised  her  to  go  on  \\  ith  it.  Taking  the  work 
with  him  on  a  visit  to  Germany,  he  finished  his  task  at 
Cologne  in  1471. 

The  new  art  of  printing  \\"as  then  practised  at  Cologne, 
and  it  is  supposed  that  Caxton  visited  one  of  its  printing- 
houses  and  had  a  hand  in  the  production  of  an  edition  of 
Bartholomew's  De  Proprietatibus  Renim.  To  support  this 
theory,  there  is  the  testimony  of  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  fore- 
man of  Caxton's  printing-house  and  his  successor,  who 
savs,  in  his  prologue  to  an  English  translation  of  De  Pro- 
prietatibus^ which  he  issued  about  1495 : 

And  also  of  your  chary tc  call  to  ranembi'aunce 

The  soule  of  William  Caxton  first  prynter  of  this  boke 

111  laten  toiige  at  Coleyn  hymself  to  avaunce^ 

That  every  well  disposyd  man  may  thereon  loke. 

On  his  return  to  Bruges,  Caxton  gave  his  completed  trans- 
lation to  the  Duchess,  and  somewhat  later  set  up  a  press  to 
supply  the  demand  for  copies  of  his  Recuyell.  In  an  epi- 
logue to  the  third  part,  Caxton  says:  "Thus  ende  I  this 
book  ^vhyche  I  have  translated  after  myn  Auctor  as  nyghe 
as  God  hath  gyuen  me  connying,  to  w  hom  be  gyuen  the 
laude  and  preysing.  And  for  as  moche  as  in  the  wrytyng  of 

'  i.e.,  in  learning  the  art. 


2 


^  ^ 

V 


9  o 


^    <3    «3  ^ 


9^^ 


sU 


■0. 


P      '-I 


^ 


^ 


cS 


ENGLAND:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY      115 

the  same  my  penne  is  worn,  myn  hande  wery  &  not  sted- 
fast,  myn  eyen  dlmed  with  ouermoche  lokyng  on  the  whit 
paper,  and  my  corage  not  so  prone  and  redy  to  laboure  as 
hit  hath  ben,  and  that  age  crepeth  on  me  dayly  and  febleth 
all  the  bodye,  and  also  because  I  have  promysid  to  dyuerce 
gentilmen  and  to  my  frendes  to  addresse  to  hem  as  hastely 
as  I  myght  this  sayd  book,  Therfore  I  have  practysed  & 
lerned  at  my  grete  charge  and  dispense  to  ordeyne  this  said 
book  in  prynte  after  the  maner  &  forme  as  ye  may  here  see, 
and  is  not  wreton  with  penne  and  ynke  as  other  bokes  ben, 
to  thende  that  euery  man  may  have  them  attones,  fFor  all  the 
bookes  of  this  storye  named  the  Recule  of  the  Historyes  of 
Troyes  thus  empryntid  as  ye  here  see  ^^'ere  begonne  in  oon 
day,  and  also  fynysshid  in  oon  day." 

In  this  production  Caxton  had  associated  with  himself 
Colard  Mansion,  who  had  previously  been  a  clever  callig- 
rapher.  Authorities  differ  as  to  whether  Caxton  persuaded 
Mansion  to  exchange  his  old  industry  for  that  of  printing, 
or  whether  Mansion,  as  seems  more  likely,  had,  shortly  be- 
fore his  connection  with  Caxton,  set  up  a  press  of  his  own. 
About  1475,  Caxton  and  Mansion  also  printed  at  Bruges 
The  Game  and  Playe  of  the  Chesse.  The  type  of  these  books 
differs  from  all  other  fonts  used  by  Caxton.  It  is  of  rough, 
angular,  awkward  design,  which  shows  clearly  its  relation 
to  current  Flemish  handwriting,  which  was  rough,  angu- 
lar, and  awkward  too  {Jig.  59).  Some  authorities  have  sup- 
posed its  design  based  on  Mansion's  handwriting,  and  that 
the  type  was  cast  by  him ;  others  have  thought  it  came  from 
Veldenerof  Lou  vain.  Its  provenance  is  not  clear.  "Its  general 
appearance,"  says  Blades,  "  is  more  free  and  manuscript- 
like than  would  be  thought  the  case  from  the  square-set 
figure  of  each  individual  letter.  This  is,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  caused  by  the  great  variety  of  letters,  there  being 


116  PRINTING  TYPES 

only  five  for  which  there  were  not  more  than  one  matrix, 
either  as  single  letters  or  in  combination :  for,  although  the 
differences  between  the  \'arious  matrices  of  the  same  letter 
may  be  but  very  slight,  we  have  here  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  freedom,  namely,  a  recurrence  of  modified  same- 
ness. The  execution  of  the  type  is  good,  sharp,  and  de- 
cided, with  sufiicient  differences  between  the  repetitions  of 
the  same  letter  to  indicate  independence  of  tracing  or  me- 
chanical contrivance ;  hence  probably  the  work  of  one  accus- 
tomed to  cut  letters."  This  type  was  never  brought  into 
England,  but  was  employed  by  Mansion  after  Caxton's 
departure. 

Caxton  returned  to  England  in  1476,  and  set  up  a  press 
in  the  Abbey  precincts  at  Westminster — at  the  Sign  of  the 
Red  Pale  —  probably  bringing  with  him  some  type  and 
equipment. 

The  remaining  seven  fonts  of  type  that  Caxton  used  fall 
into  two  classes :  batarde  types  of  the  Burgundian  school; 
and  lettres  de  forme  more  on  the  model  of  pointed  gothic 
types  of  the  Mainz  school. 

Caxton's  Type  2  and  its  variant  2*,  his  Type  4  and  its 
variant  4*,  and  his  Type  6,  are  all  versions  of  the  Flemish 
batarde  character.  In  his  Type  2  he  printed  at  Westminster 
in  1477  The  Dictes  or  Soyengis  of  the  Philosophres  {fg.  60) 
—  the  first  book  printed  in  England  with  a  date  and  place 
of  printing.  "This  type,"  says  Blades,  "has  a  more  dashing, 
picturesque,  and  elaborate  character  than  type  No.  l.It  is  an 
imitation  of  the  'gros-batarde'  type  of  Colard  Mansion,  with 
some  variation  in  the  capital  letters,  which  are  extremely 
irregular,  not  only  in  size  but  also  in  design,  some  being  of 
the  simplest  possible  construction,  whilst  others  have  spurs, 
lines,  and  flourishes." 

Caxton's  Type  3  is  particularly  interesting  to  students 


J^itf?  (§  af  ^e  c&^x:  6  gout  (otm«)^f  a  ^tBc  of  gout  fcmt^ 
iix(  ^  ^ecgaf/ Jf  0?  ^ai^mot)  fart^/(Wtang  a  fxm^  ^e 
i^uMi  amon32  <*  (^ufanb?  4^r«  ^^  OM  6>  fe  ^^g  eoun  ^/ 
ctgaPout/ Jo2  ae  fe  ^ii  (o  (^^  (^u  fJtf?  ftBPe  i^g  counojgt 
6)  ^SS^/ij^u  maifi  af  ft  t  ftGP^  (^g  cottnctgfiE  6)  mo  fcf  St  gf 
^t(  &  m^j/i^u(  fc6e  aftSag  (^if  if)^  oouncttttout^  ^ut  i^ 

(^  fe  dre^e^tBtfc^^ntj  of  ottQ  cgpmmcfi^/Q^nt^tKet^c  no( 
affieS5w  m  euetg  ne^  8g  om  counctiOPout  affon^/ Jf  oc  font 
^gme  §1^  &^ue(^  6>  &  cotmcegffctij  0g  tnang/^Ojr  0aKt ; 
ntoi)  (ai^^/^aatatiOi)  of  t^}mQt&  i«  (^^w  t^a  &  mctnp 
<ttmctg!yout^/(ttoS5  (i^^ :)  ^ue  Mt^  goSB^of  tB^ic^e  fbme 
<^(gc  f^ofbj  &councciir^t5/(notSffii«3[fta!etB§t^^ 
cept  ?^  f§  ^f  efc^Ke^  Jitf?  ge  ^  af  efc^SSe  i^  oouncti^gj 
of fb^e/ J^o:  ^aExntO)?  fat^§  ta^t  no  cotmctgf  of  a  f)ol^ 

60.  Caxtori's  Type  2.  irow  The  Dictes  or  Sayengis  cf  the  Philosophres^  Westminster^  1477 
First  book  printed  i7i  England  with  date  and  filace  of  firinling 


ENGLAND:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY      117 

of  English  printing,  for  it  is  the  type  that  we  have  come  to 
know,  both  in  face  and  size,  as  English.  It  is  a  lettre  de formc\ 
much  finer  than  his  batarde  types,  and  not  unlike  the  ancient 
Flamand  type  in  the  Enschede  collection  {Jig.  46),  though 
not  so  massive.  It  w^as  used  by  Caxton  for  three  books :  an 
Ordmcde  sen  Pica  Sarum,  in  1477,  and  a  Psalter  and  Horx 
ad  usum  Sarum,  both  printed  in  1480.  This  ty^t  is  shown  in 
our  illustration  {Jig.  6l),  which  is  interesting  because  it  re- 
produces a  copy  of  Caxton's  handbill  advertising  Pyes  of 
Salisbury  Use  —  probably  the  earliest  advertising  leaflet 
printed  in  England.  The  "Pye"  was  a  collection  of  rules  to 
show  how  to  deal  with  the  concurrence  and  occurrence  of 
festivals ;  pyes  of  two  and  three  Commemorations  possibly 
being  separate  portions  of  the  Ordinale  sen  Pica  Sarum  of 
lATil .  The  type  of  the  advertisement  was  that  used  in  the 
Pyes.  After  Caxton's  death.  Type  3  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Wynkyn  de  Worde,  who  emploAcd  it  frequently.  The  vari- 
ant of  Caxton's  second  type,  called  Type  2*,  appears  to  have 
been  cast  from  matrices  made  from  trimmed-up  letters  of 
Type  2.  Caxton's  Mirrourofthe  World,  printed  about  1481, 
shows  the  use  of  this  type.^  It  has  some  changes  and  addi- 
tions, but  is  scarcely  more  attractive  than  its  original. 

In  the  Godjreij  of  Boloyne  of  1481  Caxton  employed  his 
Type  4,  a  disagreeable,  rough,  and  more  compact  letter, 
resembling  some  used  by  Machlinia  in  his  Speculum  Chris- 
tiani  about  1486,  and  that  used  at  St.  Albans  in  1481.  Ugh' 
as  it  is,  it  was  apparently  a, favourite  of  Caxton's  {Jig.  62). 
Its  variant — Type  4* — is  a  recasting  on  a  little  larger  body," 
and  Type  4  and  Type  4*  may  be  distinguished  by  the  dif- 
ferent form  of  the  lower-case  w. 

Caxton's  Type  5  is  a  relief  to  the  eye — a  church  type  of 
the  Flamand  school,  but  not  so  fine  as  the  large  "church" 

^ Early  English  Printing,  pi.  in.  ^ Ibid.,  pi.  v. 


118  PRINTING  TYPES 

letter  called  Type  3,  which  is  considered  above.  "The  large 
Lombardic  capitals  used  with  this  font,"  says  Blades,  "have 
a  bold  and  striking  appearance.  Unlike  any  former  font  of 
Caxton's,  they  are  all  cast  with  the  largest  face  the  body  will 
bear,  and  without  the  least  beard.  They  are  used,  more  or 
less,  in  every  book  printed  with  this  type.  .  .  .  They  do  not 
look  at  all  well  when  used  as  initials  to  a  word,  on  account  of 
their  size  preventing  them  ranging  with  the  sequent  letters." 
Caxton  printed  The  Doctrinal  of  Sapience  in  Type  5,  about 
1489.  It  is  a  good  type  as  Caxton's  types  go — and  very 
English  and  ecclesiastical  in  effect,  as  we  understand  Eng- 
lish "church  type"  to-day  {fig.  63). 

Type  6,  a  variant  of  Type  2,  first  used  in  the  Ars  Mori- 
endi  of  1490,  calls  for  no  remark,  for  it  is  another  of  Cax- 
ton's series  of  gtvs  batarde  letters  {fg.  64). 

Caxton's  Type  7  was  a  small  size  of  rough,  compact  Eng- 
lish black-letter,  and  was  discovered  by  Henry  Bradshaw, 
the  learned  Cambridge  bibliographer.  In  its  delicacy  it  is 
somewhat  French.  It  was  used  in  an  Indulgence  brought 
out  in  1489.  Blades  does  not  mention  this  type  in  his  ac- 
count of  Caxton's  books,  for  he  was  never  convinced  that 
it  was —  as  it  certainly  seems  to  have  been  —  used  by  Cax- 
ton {fg.  65). 

Type  8,  of  French  origin,  is  a  lettre  de  forme  of  the  con- 
ventional type.  It  appears  in  the  first  four  lines  of  the  open- 
ing page  of  the  Ars  Moriend'i  mentioned  above,  and  in  the 
fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  twelfth,  and  thirteenth  lines  of  the  left- 
hand  column  in  our  illustration  {^fg.  64). 

Caxton's  press  turned  out  about  a  hundred  books.  Gordon 
Duff'  tells  us  that  "from  the  time  Caxton  first  started  print- 
ing it  is  interesting  to  notice  how  he  gradually  introduced 
various  improvements.  His  earliest  books  have  no  head-lines, 
no  numbers  to  the  pages,  no  catchwords  and  no  signatures; 


3<  it  pkQi  ttv^g  wan  Qjtdtuel  oi  cnnpjtcl  to  b^t  on^ 
p^cft  oif  tvtoo  aniirt^tc  o[iimmo»si0O6  of  (aUCbud  )aft 

mfier  in  to  t^  atmontCc^t  at  t^  tetli  )»te  anDs^e  (^al 
liauf  t^  9000  (^i^ps  /.* 

it)plicDfietci^{mla 


61.  Caxton's  Type  3.  Used  in  his  Handbill^  Westminster^  c.  14^77 


i\  ©etc  &3^n€t$  %  a?^c  3nfta40^b?  €mcG:(5/an^  aCfo  of  eo^>, 
^^  of  (J^olb^nc  /  t^c  ^^ic^c  fpcact^  of  t^c  Conqiicfi^  of  t^c  ^9g 
Ibnoj  of  JOccufaCem/contGjin^ns  ^luctfc  toartco  ano  no6(^  fa^tm^ 
of  2li;mco  maoc  it)  ti)c  fame  (T?o^a«tc/anO  it)  t^c  contrcco  o^iaotni 
3ln0  aCfo  manj)  tttctua^a'ouo  t^^cr^ce  (xi^co?  ano?  faCTo^  ao  ^cC 
oj)  t^i^  f'^cc/C»e  tt)  t^o  patijjce  t^ie  t^mc  Our^ncp  /  2ttiD2  ^®  (^c 
'EaC^ant Ouc <5oocftc^  of  ^o^^nccDttquctC)2^it^^5c|S&cto4c 

C^^cffafic^piitcttcaafi^^®  €mcG?6  0ottqiKtO(pctfc  an;>^ 
^(3^^c  Cofo^oc/anO  6:oiis<?^  iij  ^  3§cwfaCcm  (§«  ^r^  aoffC/ca^ 
pi^      ^  putno/ 

toao  a  sooC)?  a^fto^  mat)  ano?  gouctnouv  of 
t^cmp^tc  of  (Komc/Qi^ut  n?  ^10  t^mc  Wac^^ 
wet  OaO  &2t)^^ic^c  ttjao  mcffagcr  of  t^c  o?mO 
3ltiC)2  ma^  t^c  p^pte  tw  ^ncscrfioticc  /  t^ai  ^c 
^ae»  a  ptop^ctc  fctifi?  from  out  (b:cc  /  2in  t^c 
t^mc  of  <bmcC?o  ^ae  t^c  faC0  Ca^c  of  ma^ 
C^mct  fo^  ari^  fpxa^  aC^oos  tt)  tttatt^  pavtgce  of  t§o:^ctit/an^ 

62.  Caxtori's  Type  4.  iv'ow  Godfrey  of  Boloyne^  Westminster^  1481 


■^  i>  *^  P.  %4-r  ^*^      o  -i^  o  St  rrt      •**^  s;  ^  *5  ^ 


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ENGLAND:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY      119 

the  ends  of  the  lines  are  not  always  even/  and  we  see  in  the 
paper  the  holes  made  by  the  points  which  kept  the  paper 
straight. ...  In  some  of  these  books  printing  in  red  is  found, 
not  worked  off  by  a  separate  impression,  but  pulled  at  the 
same  time  with  the  black,  a  peculiar  method  of  printing 
used  also  by  Colard  Mansion  in  the  books  which  he  printed 
alone." 

Caxton  introduced  signatures  in  1480,  and  began  to  use 
woodcut  illustrations  in  about  the  same  year,  and  very  rough 
they  were.  Few  ornamental  initials  are  found  in  his  books. 
"Such  improvements  as  Caxton  adopted,"  says  Gordon  Duff, 
"were  only  made  from  necessity,  to  keep  himself  abreast 
of  his  rivals." 

It  was  unfortunate  for  early  English  typography  that 
Caxton  lived  so  long  in  the  Low  Countries,  and  modelled  his 
printing  on  the  work  about  him,  rather  than  upon  that  of 
France  or  Italy.  But  unlike  his  rivals,  he  was,  says  Gordon 
Duff,  "the  editor  or  translator  of  most  of  his  publications, 
and,  unlearned  as  he  calls  himself,  his  labours  have  made  a 
lasting  mark  in  the  history  of  the  English  language."  Thus 

'  This  was  because  Caxton,  following  the  pi-actice  of  the  Dutch  school  of  print- 
ing, at  first  used  no  composing-i-ule.  As  Blades  says  in  his  essay  on  Caxton's 
printing-office,  "Placing  rough  types  ufion  rough  types  admits  of  very  httle 
shifting  or  adjustment,  and  to  this  fact,  I  imagine,  we  must  attribute  the 
practice  of  leaving  the  lines  in  early  books  of  an  uneven  length.  An  attempt 
to  push  along  the  words  of  a  line  in  order  to  introduce  more  space  between 
them,  without  some  plan  of  easing  the  friction,  would  be  certain  to  break  up 
the  line  altogether,  and  so  the  lines  were  left  just  as  tliey  happened  to  fall, 
whether  full  length  or  short.  Sometimes,  when  a  word  would  come  into  the 
line  with  a  little  reduction  of  the  space  between  the  last  two  words,  the  space 
was  reduced  accordingly;  but  more  often  a  syllable  at  the  end  of  the  line  was 
contracted,  such  as  '  men '  into  '  me, '  or '  vertuous '  into  '  vertuo^.'  Most  often 
the  compositor,  knowing  the  practice  to  be  understood  by  his  readers,  would 
finish  his  line  with  just  so  many  letters  as  his  measure  would  take,  and  accord- 
ingly it  is  common  to  find  words  divided  thus: — why-i|che  th||at  w||ymen 
wlliche  m||an.  But  when  once  the  'setting  rule'  was  brought  into  use  all  tliat 
was  altered,  and  the  various  words  of  a  line  could  be  pushed  about,  and  the 
spaces  between  them  augmented  or  reduced  with  ease." 


120  PRINTING  TYPES 

the  historical  significance  of  Caxton's  types,  and  the  interest 
that  attaches  to  him  as  a  man,  must  make  up  for  the  lack 
of  beauty  in  his  books/ 

Caxton's  material  at  his  death,  in  1491,  passed  to  Wyn- 
kyn  de  Worde,  a  native  of  Worth  in  Alsace,  who  had  been 
his  assistant.  He  at  first  used  only  Caxton's  types ;  the  fonts 
he  owned  being  3,  4*,  6,  7,  and  8.  These  he  employed  in  five 
books  published  from  1491  to  1493 ;  among  them  the  Golden 
Legend^  printed  in  the  latter  year/  The  first  type  of  his  own 
that  he  used,  in  a  Liber  Festivalis  in  1493,^  has  somewhat 
the  appearance  of  the  French  lettre  de  forme  of  the  period. 
"It  was,"  says  Gordon  Duff,  "probably  formed  on  a  French 
model,  though  it  retains  several  characteristics  and  even  a 
fe^v  identical  letters  of  Caxton's  founts."  Of  the  variant  cap- 
ital I's,  one  much  resembled  that  in  Caxton's  Type  4*.  The 
black-letter  in  The  BokeofSt.  Alban's^  printed  by  De  Worde 
in  1496,  was  derived  from  Gotfried  van  Os  of  Gouda,  from 
whom,  on  his  departure  from  Gouda  to  Copenhagen,  Cax- 
ton  bought  types  and  a  supply  of  the  rather  awkwardly  de- 
signed initials  to  be  found  in  De  Worde's  books.  This  type 

^  In  De  Ricci's  j1  Census  of  Caxtons  (Bibliographical  Society's  Monographs, 
No.  XV,  1909) ,  Caxton's  eight  types  are  reproduced  in  facsimile,  printed  on 
rough  paper,  and  showing  full  pages  of  the  types.  Tliere  are  also  lists  of  the 
books  printed  at  Bruges  and  Westminster,  giving  the  number  of  existing 
copies,  un traced  cojjies,  and  fragments.  A  list  of  the  books  printed  at  Paris  for 
Caxton  and  the  books  pi-inted  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  after  Caxton's  death, 
but  with  Caxton's  types,  is  followed  by  a  list  of  Caxton's  books  classified  by 
tyfies;  finally,  a  list  of  Caxton's  books  in  chixjnological  order,  showing  the 
types  used  in  each  year,  is  apj)ended.  There  is  also  an  index  of  libi-aries  which 
contain  or  have  contained  Caxtons. 

Tliis  book  is  supplenientaiy  to  Blades's  Life  and  Tyliografihy  of  William 
Caxton,  London,  1863,  2  vols.,  which  is  now  made  more  or  less  incom- 
])lcte  by  later  knowledge ;  but  Blades's  volumes,  Goi-don  DuflTs  Early  Eng- 
lish Printing  and  Life  of  Caxton  (Caxton  Club  of  Chicago),  and  De  Ricci's 
Census  fumisli  a  fairly  complete  equipment  to  the  student.  Mr.  Winship's 
delightful  paper,  William  Caxton,  should  also  be  consulted. 
^ pMrly  English  Printing,  pi.  viii.  *  Ibid.,  pi.  xi  (of  later  editions). 


^^efatio  in  nonumi  genera 

:ffmemopen0Qtticucj!tjit?e0:<?no(imp?oba(Ht 
^ctiptatpicmfmkB  in  tm  totaDcoi^ 

€ttuIiuo^eDajc:qm  non^tccatperc  lute* 
^ua)'potc0/(?rot)i0latttjafenacrcpa^ 

<^rantmata  fulpttii  toto  relcgcntut  in  oibc 
^tq^cntmp^ectonofttanunemafuo* 

^ulpttutrntlamtnopuCculum 
Degenenlmsnommup^efatto 


'£)gitantin!il)(^tentanti  fepe/.^  curicR/ 


qu3vi3pofrent;if3ctlm8'niidut9^fi.ccrcpuenmarrcsrat>si*s 
tic3.conipmiimeftD9cmnccUr»Tib:cu:3  p:cccpt3Tberi' Ulta 
$ obfaira conferrc3t3(9 cG &e nonunum Dcdmarione a verbo?.  cetcrarCJctf 
-o:atlonirp3rriunicoM(lructioe&uo9  bbi09  compcn0iofo3  nug  cMOcrmi.  Srt 
cefTir ttiil^i  ocnonnnu sc»enb':i  ^e  vcrbop  ptcrma  i  fupinit.  ( onobiie  altja 
cp0mfcB'volumitjib')  fcnbenOi  Ubi&o.omtiis  ctti  pucro?.  oifFkailrasin  fecdi 
nahonc  gencfe;p  Jentis  i  fupiuio  a  conftructioc  confillit.diua  qui  t)eni  fi  eg© 
iHo0b«uit3tccl3nt3(:ecy  cmcaciQpccptozft  !cti3U(mm:vit)Cboipict3n  mce 
feci/TefahsratQj  nieil3boii0  pmtitm  glo:i3  {?abituru0  Somiror  nuffiiBioas 
ctatisljonuneaoiit  vcter3noclKt)im3Biftro3l23tic  Tibi  ^utnciSno  afTumps 
fifrc:m3lm(Tcqjatcj:3iic»riobrcunt3tib^';crroui)U0inibucrea5oIc(centes. 
•purofancl2bo:t0'fiillTcBtel\itn:3Uqiio0muioilTcmino:ib'':wc3qipi  oibtcc 
rmt  t)ifncnltcr;alio0  no  m.  tioie  Ooccrcnt  labote  tiifcentiQ  :nccpolleiie  agtiot 
«^eta^cmcrge^ouvi3■aIlOlUo0  (tanq;  rdigioiictn)  vcnios  cITc  mtinjcuta 
nmtsrc:';  nc  apiif  gcnf  cm  Bfiianim  ncudium  opu0  ntenta  fo:ct  auctoutate 
<onfccum:5J.Connnereem  onirtC0  upiiDc  fugnacaneu  irz,  Sicjci5b:o  tcmpua 
1  contenmtallu  fotucjrgraniatioe  noiut^ilu  predpue  Ijab^t  :iU(i  cuolmmt: 
ttcc  alios  3ttinstint:illum  pucrts  cxplanantitt  illo  totoo  cotcrut  t)(c0  fg  oifas 
pulo0i;nrcUce0:BQi»3rcsula:to0itant)o5iccrclirtcr3:!^c)rEtco;;nri  etianie]c 
5»octis  aliquot  ^ccipatractarc  V£lunvalt)cpcculi3nafarcm-  Sc^  quanta 
ijOfecwnt  (vtpacc co?. &i)cmm) tnipmbenti3m3tn  pucro©  qui' lactc  cibtfcp 
^I(c4n/rimi0;f3cilifq<foluttoni9alai&irunt:multoflbfintfjco:cibiri:prurt(a3 
^t)urUrmnoriutruiiumalc:rcbt»untautinii3liOo0aticfomic3:autpzopins= 
t}ibu9(:ursit)O0.*ftnDcbuntillo0f3cihu0aic)i:ant)rt  carmen  qt^quiocconcin 
fitt m  tnuln0.:rDulti  quocQ mcliuo  piofant  fp  c3rmc  eOifcut. Scd efto  ita  qtio 
DC  arte  graniatica  copiofc  -:  dare  (cnbe  carimuibuo  pot-  Sctar.t  mcmonter 
Sletafi  tru.QiJi&'ocmQ  pxoficcrc  cu  non  mtcliissnt  7'3ntdlige?Jt  ( tnquiunt). 
pauUtimquoufq^tnttOgO  j;«r«w;rt09b  quartu:rju;9t>  quinjG;ftjrtaye8mwni 


66.  Gothic  Types  used  by  Wynkyn  de  JVorde,  JVestminster^  1499 


ENGLAND:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY      121 

is  the  square,  Netherlands  lettre  de  forme  oi  the  period/  The 
lower-case  w's  of  this  type  are  peculiar  in  shape,  and  should 
be  examined. 

De  Worde's  Speculum  of  1494^  was  printed  from  Cax- 
ton's  Type  8,  which  was  a  lettre  de  forme.  De  Worde  had 
also  two  other  types,  both  of  which  he  used  before  the  end 
of  the  fifteenth  century  in  his  Opus  Grammaticwn  of  Sul- 
pitius  {fg.  66).  The  larger  of  the  two  was  a  text  type,  the 
smaller  being  employed  for  notes.  The  first  seems  to  be 
French ;  the  smaller  has  a  round  quality  which  is  a  little 
like  the  Italian  gothic  types  of  the  time.  Gordon  Duff  says 
that  these  characters  were  imported,  and  that  some  French 
printers  possessed  almost  identical  fonts.  The  small  type  is 
a  charming  character  and  was  the  work  of  a  very  clever 
founder.  De  Worde  printed  about  one  hundred  books  before 
1500,  and  nearly  eight  hundred  in  all — if  new  editions  and 
broadsides  are  included. 

One  of  the  methods  of  placing  the  De  Worde  books  chro- 
nologically is  curious,  i.e.,  from  the  condition  of  the  wood- 
cuts. An  engraving  on  wood  of  the  Crucifixion,  which  was 
first  used  in  Caxton's  Ffteen  Oes,  was  employed  so  much 
by  De  Worde,  that  in  1498  it  began  to  crack.  And  in  1499, 
while  an  edition  of  the  Mirror  of  Consolation  was  in  process, 
the  block  split  in  two.  The  progress  of  time  was  thus 
marked  by  the  fissure  in  the  plate. 

The  types  of  the  printer  Julian  Notary,  who  worked  in 
connection  with  Barbier  and  another  unknown  printer,  and 
produced  several  books  for  De  Worde,  are  also  of  the  lettre 
de  forme  family.  His  Sarum  Missal  shows  these  fine  charac- 
ters admirably  composed;  for  the  French  elegance  in  type- 
setting exhibits  itself  very  clearly  in  this  book,  Avhich  was 
printed  about  1498  ^fig.  67) ;  and  also  in  the  Sarum  Hor^ 

^ Early  English  Printing,  pi.  x.  '  Ihid.,  pi.  i.x. 


122  PRINTING  TYPES 

of  1497.  Barbier  was  of  French  origin,  and  probably  came 
to  England  at  De  Worde's  invitaUon. 

In  the  work  of  John  Lettou  we  see  this  same  mastery  of 
composition;  but  there  is  a  distinct  foreign  quality  in  the 
letter  shown  in  his  Quaestiones  Antonii  AyidresB.  This  type, 
in  effect,  resembles  a  form  employed  at  Rome  (possibly  by 
the  same  printer)  in  1478-79.  It  looks  like  the  transitional 
gothic  types  which  showed  the  influence  of  Roman  letter- 
forms  {Jig.  68).  This  book  Avas  the  first  volume  printed  in 
England  in  w  hich  double  columns  were  employed.  After  its 
appearance  Lettou  went  into  partnership  with  William  de 
Machlinia,  and  it  was  by  them  jointly  that  the  two  types 
employed  in  Littleton's  Tenores  Novel li  were  used.  One  was 
a  Burgundian  (or  "Caxton")  sort  of  batarde  letter,  the  other  a 
pure  lettre  de  forme}  After  printing  some  five  books  in  asso- 
ciation with  Lettou,  Machlinia  carried  on  the  business  by 
himself.  A  square  lettre  de  forme  was  used  by  Machlinia  in 
the  Revelation  of  St.  jYic/iolas,  and  a  picturesque  condensed 
gothic  type  in  the  De  Secretis  jYaturse  of  Albertus  Magnus 
of  1484.^  Machlinia's  two  remaining  fonts  were  a  heavy, 
square  lettre  de  forme,  rather  like  Caxton 's  Type  3,  and  a 
coarse  lettre  batarde  famande,  identical  with  types  used  by 
Veldener  at  Utrecht  and  Brito  at  Bruges — another  proof  of 
the  close  connection  between  Netherlands  printers  and  the 
English  fifteenth  century  press.  These  were  employed  in  a 
Speculum  Chrlstiani  brought  out  about  1486.^ 

The  printer  Richard  Pynson  w  as  a  Norman  by  birth.  He 
had  two  rough  forms  of  transitional  lettre  de  forme  (in  which 
he  printed  Chaucer's  Canterbury  Tales  and  Dives  and  Pau- 
per)* and  a  more  delicate  batarde;  his  remaining  types  being 
lettres  de  fonne.  The  lettre  batarde  in  which  The  Fall  of 

'  Early  English  Printing,  pi.  xvi.  '  Ihid.,  jjl.  xvii. 

'  Ibid.,  pi.  xvin.  *  Ibid.,  pis.  xx  and  xxi. 


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ENGLAND:  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY      123 

Princes  wsis  printed,  about  1494  {Jig.  69),  is  somewhat  like 
the  fonts  common  in  France.  Pynson's  iettres  de  fonne  are 
shown  in  the  larger  type  of  his  Sulpitius  of  1494 — a  square 
Netherlandish  letter — and  in  the  very  handsome  lettre  de 
forme  which  he  used  with  beautiful  effect  in  an  Ho}-x  ad 
Usum  Sarum  of  1495  {fg.  70),  and  in  a  Sarum  Missal  of 
1500/  His  small  black-letter  types  for  notes  are  rather  Ital- 
ian in  feeling.  The  Sarum  Missal  of  Pynson  is  a  really  fine 
piece  of  work,  which  shows  taste  and  ability,  though  the 
borders  are  very  rough  in  execution.  Pynson  was  the  most 
tasteful  of  the  fifteenth  century  English  printers. 

In  addition  to  the  London  presses,  there  were  printing  es- 
tablishments at  Oxford  and  St.  Albans.  Of  the  seven  types 
employed  at  Oxford,  some  narrow,  upright  gothic  types 
produced  striking  pieces  of  typography."  The  other  fonts 
call  for  litde  comment  here.  In  the  St.  Albans  press(the  third 
place  where  printing  was  done  in  England)  we  have  three 
different  types,  and  this  press  also  used  Caxton's  Type  3. 
Of  these  three  fonts,  the  type  used  in  the  Augustinus  Dac- 
tus  is  the  most  interesting.^  Besides  the  books  that  were 
printed  in  England,  a  great  many  volumes  were  printed 
abroad  for  the  English  market  —  some  at  Antwerp,  Paris, 
and  Rouen,*  others  at  Basle,  Lou  vain,  and  Cologne.  These 
do  not  concern  us  in  our  study  of  English  type-forms, 
though  in  passing  it  may  be  said  that  they  were  more  fin- 
ished than  the  books  printed  in  England.^ 

In  a  final  survey  of  the  types  used  in  England  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  they  group  themselves  into  three  classes 

*  Early  English  Printing,  pi.  xxvi.  '  Rid.,  pi.  xxix,  Cicero. 

'  Ibid.,  pi.  XXXII.  *  Ibid.,  pis.  xxxv-xxxviii. 

*  Excellent  facsimiles  of  the  types  of  Caxton  and  other  early  English  firinters 
are  appended  to  Gordon  DuflPs  Fifteenth  Century  English  Books  (Biblio- 
graphical Society's  Monograjjhs,  No.  XVIII,  1917). 


124  PRINTING  TYPES 

of  black-letter  fonts,  for  the  roman  character  was  not  intro- 
duced into  England  until  well  into  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  first  was  a  pointed  lettre  dejbrme much  resembling 
the  French.  In  this  the  most  attractive  books  were  issued; 
and  certain  of  them  are  particularly  interesting  as  giving  in 
type  the  English  national  letter-form,  based  on  earlier  man- 
uscripts, of  which  I  have  spoken  more  than  once.  This  still 
survives. 

The  second  group  is  the  lettre  batarde^  based  on  the  Bur- 
gundian  batarde.  Fonts  of  this  appear  in  all  sizes  and  vari- 
eties, from  the  rough  and  ugly  characters  used  by  Caxton 
down  to  the  refined  imitation  of  French  batarde  types  em- 
ployed by  Pynson. 

The  third  group  of  types  is  miscellaneous,  made  up  of 
characters  which  were  imported,  and  others  which  may 
have  been  copies  of  importations.  None  of  them  are  char- 
acteristic of  purely  English  typography,  though  they  are 
sometimes  better  than  the  native  English  types. 


o 


a. 


5»- 


Si 


.5  o 


^  XI  St  "^ 

w  s  O  ^ 

A.  «.>  S  ^ 

^  2  t© 


o 

C  «   ^ 
o   w   s 

$:  *^.« 


K»  "S  ~  «s- 
^  o  ^  Si 


S    "«    'iA    !? 


<  ••• 
2  Si  ^ 

^a    S:    •* 

Si  2  2 
s  ^  « 

^    «s    ^ 

^  c*  o 


J 

o 


2  ^ 


^ 


3    —    o  tP 
O   o   ^  cs 

r  t:  ^  «> 


O 


o  ^ 

3    ^ 


Si  2  S 
tr  «  ^ 

o  «  «>      sr 


•*   A. 
a-. 


^=: 
o 
a-       ^  o 

^        s  r* 

S  ^  »  S 

cr        o   3 
Ji   «^  ^    o 

»  S  S  «> 

is  ^^  ^ 

*-  S-/0  S 
to  tS  =i  tL 


o 

li 

5  s 

o  '^ 


O    Si* 


«^     ^-^     "> 
«     O     o    3, 


-^  o  ^  S 

g*    2»    w    w 


Bto  -^  sr 


V  **  s  «-» 

^  «  S  o 

~  m  «  2^ 

.  Si  « 


Si  --  *^ 
s  o  ^ 
cr  vs.  a. 


«    ^    2S    « 


w 


1^    ^  ^i^^ 


o 


a.  ^ 

&<  J  §" 

r\  -s*  «\ 

<^    O  *2 


^  ^ 

s  ^ 


s  2 


O    3 

«\  5 
s:  o 

2  J*\ 

«  ^ 


O  «2- 


s 

^ 


imefa  ttinitaB  Dirigatme  inctUmabHiBbmi^ 
tas  regat  me  potetca  pattis  tiuif tcet  me  tapi^ 
etttta  f(Iu  illutmnet  mc  bittu0  rpu(rctt.3f[(p!|a 
a^ooDcua^i^omo  fitiftabencoictco  miljifa^- 
lU0  ^  p^otectso  incternum.  ^liinetu 

02Bl]^irel>mmre&i)er/fonnc/anD 
ftol^goofltl)2egfone0  (tone  goD 
3b]^leueB)itlim^n{)eite(tcDnfeirell)it{j 
m]^  tnouttf  all  tl^ari^ol^  cl^urc()e  bj^leue- 
t\)tam  ^olded^  of  tl^eanti  ae  moc^easa' 
SODecat^oI^bcanD ttp&m manoug^ggj  _ 
to  ftleanD  bj^leueof  tlje/  3lnti  3  piott&tu^^^S^ 
iimbf(oittl)fmmaftt\im2iibpll  ip  ^^'''^'^' | 
ueanD  hftin0s  faftif  anD  cont^nueal  \ 
m^l^fe/an&3bnott)legetbem^goD/fa 
feucr  d  mabcr  of  al  tin  Iboilue*  (t  me  tlip 
poiecreatute  fubger  anD  fttmmu^m 
mabeto  tbefa^rl^anDbomageofm^bo 
hft^o!mp(onltiWtbtjl)olbtoftiit 
mblf  as  of  m^  (buerapn  lozDe  ant)  goD 
itl)allttiegoDe0naturalfpmtual  anD 
tepoxalltbatjftaue  (f  tljateucrjftao 


70.  Lettre  de  Forme  used  by  Pynson^  London^  c.  1495 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  ALDINE  ITALIC 

FROM  our  survey  of  fifteenth  century  types  it  would 
appear  that  every  country  had  its  formal  pointed 
black-letter;  every  country,  save  England,  its  clas- 
sical roman  type;  and  every  country — except,  perhaps, 
Spain  —  its  cursive  vernacular  black-letter  type,  copied  from 
the  handwriting  of  the  locality  and  time.  Before  1500  Italy 
had  no  vernacular  type  simply  because  thie  current  hand- 
writing of  Italy  (which  was  not  of  the  black-letter  school) 
was  only  translated  into  type-forms  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  Italic  was  the  Italian  cursive  vernacular 
type,  and  it  ultimately  drove  out  all  other  vernacular  types 
wherever  roman  letters  came  into  general  use.  It  was  pro- 
duced by  Aldus  in  1501;  but  it  was  modelled  so  clearly  on 
fifteenth  century  cursive  hands,  that  it  comes  within  the 
range  of  fifteenth  century  fonts.  So  to  complete  our  review 
of  the  earliest  type-forms,  we  must  consider  this  famous 
italic. 

We  cannot  understand  the  work  of  Aldus  Manutius  and 
the  Aldine  printing-office,  or  the  innovation  made  by  books 
in  smaliyor/^2«^  printed  in  italic  type,  unless  we  know  some- 
thing of  the  intellectual  condition  of  Europe  at  the  time  of 
Aldus,  and  about  an  experiment  which  he  made  in  type- 
cutting  some  years  earlier.  "In  1500,  men  were  thinking  of 
new  things,"  says  Pollard.  "New  editions  of  many  of  the 
old  religious  and  didactic  treatises,  the  old  poems  and  ro- 
mances, continued  to  be  printed,  though  mostly  in  a  form 
which  suggests  that  they  were  intended  for  a  lower  class 
of  readers ;  but  the  new  publishers  would  have  little  to  do 
with  them.  Scholarship,  which  till  now  had  been  almost 
confined  to  Italy,  spread  rapidly  to  all  the  chief  countries 


126  PRINTING  TYPES 

of  Europe,  and,  amid  the  devastation  which  constant  war 
soon  brought  upon  Italy,  was  lucky  in  being  able  to  find 
new  homes.  With  the  new  literary  ideals  came  new  forms 
for  books,  and  new  methods  of  housing  them.  .  .  .  The  men 
for  whom  Aldus  catered  wanted  books  which  they  could 
put  in  their  pockets  and  their  saddlebags,  and  it  was  not 
long  before  the  publishers  of  Paris  and  Lyons  outdid  Aldus 
in  the  smallness  and  neatness  of  their  editions." 

The  reasons  for  the  invention  of  a  new  condensed  type 
were  (like  most  reasons  for  things)  so  simple  that  they 
are  in  danger  of  being  overlooked.  Small  books  had  come 
into  vogue — the  kind  of  volume  that  inspired  Dr.  Johnson 
when  he  said,  "Books  that  you  may  carry  to  the  fire  and 
hold  readily  in  your  hand,  are  the  most  useful  after  all."  It 
probably  occurred  to  Aldus  that  simple,  compact  volumes 
might  be  popular,  and  thus  commercially  successful ;  so  for 
these  small  books  a  condensed  type  was  designed,  ^\•hich 
permitted  a  good  deal  of  matter  to  be  printed  on  a  page. 
That  he  meant  these  16mo  editions  of  the  classics  to  be  in 
the  nature  of  a  "handy-volume"  collection  is  shown  by  the 
dedication  of  the  Juvenal,  issued  in  1501  —  the  first  year 
of  his  use  of  italic — which  runs  as  follows: 

^^  Aldus,  to  his  friend  Sdpio  Carteromachus,  Greeting. 

"We  have  printed,  and  are  now  publishing,  the  Satires 
of  Juvenal  and  Persius  in  a  very  small  yorwo^,  so  that  they 
may  more  conveniently  be  held  in  the  hand  and  learned  by 
heart  (not  to  speak  of  being  read)  by  everyone;  this  we  do 
at  a  time  when  every  vice  has  reached  a  point  still  higher 
than  had  been  reached  when  these  Satires  were  composed 
—  for  I  do  not  doubt  that  Life  will  here  read,  and  recog- 
nize, its  own  Manners  and  Morals.  We  send  these  Satires 
to  you,  my  dear  Scipio,  that  they  may  through  their  brev- 


THE  ALDINE  ITALIC  127 

ity  become  once  more  your  intimate  friends,  as  they  were 
formerly  during  your  stay  at  Rome  as  a  young  man,  when 
you  possessed  them  as  thoroughly  in  your  memory  as  your 
own  fingers  and  finger-nails." 

The  Aldine  16mo  books  were  in  reality  a  sort  of  Venetian 
Everyman's  Library,  and  held  the  same  position  with  re- 
gard to  other  books  that  the  various  series  of  books  in  handy 
foimat  do  now  ;  and  they  bore  somewhat  the  same  relation 
to  other  books  in  their  price.  In  these  popular  editions  Aldus 
was  merely  returning  to  classical  usage. 

So  much  for  the  reasons  that  appear  to  have  suggested 
these  books  in  small  ybrwa?  for  which  the  Aldine  italic  was 
designed. 

The  adoption  of  an  imitation  of  a  cursive  hand  by  Aldus 
for  his  new  fonts  is  not  wholly  explicable  by  the  wish  for 
a  compact  type.  His  italic  types  were  only  a  development  of 
an  idea  already  put  into  effect  in  his  Greek  fonts.  The  older 
Greek  manuscripts  employed  formal,  simple  characters,  sep- 
arate from  each  other  and  with  comparatively  few  ligatures 
or  contractions,  which  adapted  them  very  well  to  transla- 
tion into  type;^  but  Aldus  preferred  to  imitate  the  cursive 
Greek  handwriting  of  his  time,  which  was  filled  with  an 
immense  number  of  ligatures,  contractions,  and  unneces- 

'  ' '  We  think  of  the  cheap  book  and  the  pubUc  library  as  blessings  coming 
direct  from  the  invention  of  tlie  printing-press,  and  at  first  tliought  we  may 
be  inclined  to  suppose  that  in  Rome,  when  copies  had  to  be  written  by  hand, 
books  must  have  been  as  dear  as  they  were  during  the  Middle  Ages.  .  .  .  This 
was  not  the  case.  Copyists  had  been  trained  to  attain  such  a  speed  in  writing, 
and  slave  labor  was  so  cheap,  that  in  the  first  century  of  our  era,  as  Martial 
tells  us,  the  first  book  of  his  poems,  which  contains  about  seven  hundred  lines, 
could  be  had  at  a  sum  amounting  to  thirty  or  forty  cents,  while  his  Xenia  could 
be  sold  for  twenty  cents.  At  these  rates,  books  did  not  cost  more  than  twice 
what  they  do  to-day."  Abbott's  Society  and  Politics  in  ^indent  Rome.  New 
York,  1909. 
*  Like  the  Greek  font  used  in  the  Complutensian  Polyglot  (^g.  228) . 


128  PRINTING  TYPES 

sary  complications.^  Despite  their  faults,  these  cursive  Greek 
fonts  hit  the  popular  taste  {Jig.  71).  So  when  a  small,  com- 
pact type  was  wanted  for  editions  of  Latin  classics,  etc.,  I 
suppose  it  may  have  seemed  to  Aldus  natural  and  clever, 
to  do  for  Latin  letter-forms  what  he  had  done  for  old  Greek 
letter-forms.  It  may  be,  too,  that  Aldus  adopted  a  cursive 
letter  for  his  new  font  because  it  suggested  the  popular  and 
informal  character  of  his  projected  series.  Whatever  his  rea- 
sons, the  result  was  the  Aldine  italic. 

The  punches  for  these  types  w^ere  cut  by  Francesco 
da  Bologna  (whose  name  was  Griffi,  and  is  not  to  be  confused 
wuth  II  Francia),  who  had  already  designed  roman  types  for 
Aldus.  Tradition  says  that  he  intended  to  imitate  the  hand- 
writing of  Petrarch" — too  picturesque  a  fib  to  give  up, 
though  comparison  with  specimens  of  Petrarch's  handwrit- 
ing upsets  the  theory.  The  high-flung  names  of  Aldus  Ma- 
nutius,  Francesco  da  Bologna,  and  Petrarch  have  dazzled 
us  into  forgetting  that  the  production  of  these  little  books 
printed  in  italic  was  a  simple  business  affair.  If  Aldus  had 
been  named  "Brown,"  Da  Bologna  "Smith,"  and  Petrarch 
"Jones,"  the  venture  would  appear  to  us  more  what  it  ap- 
peared to  the  Venetians  of  that  day.  The  first  books  printed 
in  the  new  font  were  the  Virgil  and  Juvenal  of  1501  {Jig.  72). 

The  Aldine  italic  was  founded  upon  a  Humanistic  cur- 
sive Italian  handwriting  of  a  somewhat  earlier  period,  of 

*  For  some  of  tlie  contractions  supplied  by  ligatured  Greek  letters,  see  Sav- 
age's Z)/crionarj/ o/^Ae./fr;q/'Pri?zr/;2_g-,  pp.  300-302.  While  simplifications 
of  Greek  type  took  place  in  France  under  the  Estiennes,  and  still  more  changes 
have  been  made  since,  theoriginal  misunderstanding  has  never  been  corrected. 
'  Probably  based  on  a  misconception  of  the  phrase,  tolto  con  sommissima  dili- 
genza  dallo  scritto  di  mano  medesima  del  Poeta,  occurring  in  the  colophon  of 
the  1501  Aldine  edition  of  Petrarch's  Cose  Volgari.  This  means  merely  that 
the  text  of  the  edition  has  been  carefully  transcribed  from  a  manuscript  in 
Petrarch's  autograph.  The  statement  is  twice  repeated,  in  varying  phrase 
but  with  identical  meaning,  in  the  address  entitled  Aldo  a  gli  Letlori. 


♦  I AOzrpATOY  Err  ton  AnOAAnNlOY 

TOY  TYANEnZ    BIOM 
BTBAION  TETAPTON' 

p^<^^S(i)iv  w  oeJ^c/Jboc  Iv  r^sjc/oc  Trot  ^tA^'vTW  U  thv  z<Pifftif,Cbiio\  S«- 
you^coj  t77  'TT^fltf  Ttsa?  too;  Try  V  t^^oj/?  »^l',«^'«HJ0A0D6o'^/</,of<£♦',<^5(5^- 
Cov^i^tu^KMC  (fhmv  Touff  iA.oipou^'i(po'nw\i  icou  'n^ioj^eiou  'tt^oO'  olutov  Ik. twv  TraAifijv, 

^  Hflti  TWO'  Zju\}pvii{,\cod  o,n  i^  J^ioiyy  bvfc^'ZinnianSt  bihim^p^isuq  3  oc(pikicdvu,iipi70  npt^ 

Tc , iCcuJhUT^  Oi  (Aoustu Kga  ^^cSitvouocMiiAiSip  *  Thv  fjtZv  Jit  cO«At|ii'  thv  nr^ctvi v  , 6c)p 
'ris^p\nii\^i  7DU  ct^sJ  nr§oi  invi  E(pimui  cfl<iAix6HtOUX^i:'d^oi  awupcc'/insti  aMa  tuV 
fjJli  olA\a3v^x'nzi-)^v  7^,19"  xt3V  caJvvcfbc^r^v-0iAomi0iqi.  Si  fiovn  ivf*^ovP\.S(iii>v,f(gucnjdv 

aic/JooyuJ  iiiv  ,iJt.i<TK.  ^  ttTvirav-o^jfcod'idi  ftiTOi^t^'^v  Twy  EcPKnOiV  nr^oct  (xJtdi'^oiJh  ^- 

/iOV  7rEetO^«?7I3ii7TW,«M't/HP(/o^*Ta,K9WeOti&a>^t^^    TWMOif  .TVLOTd^  elMdb&  (^CC'\l' 
71.  Gree/^  Tl//7e  used  in  Philostratus :  Aldus^  Venice^  1501 


IVUri    IVVENALTS    AQVINA 
XI5      SATYRA      PRIMA. 

EMPEREGO  AVDITOR 

tantum^nunciufiwmrepotuim 
$  V  exatus  tiUcs  uua  thcjeide 

Codri  ? 
I  mfuncer^  tmhirecitRUirit  ille 

H  icel€^s?fWpunedicmcnnfum^fcritin^ns 
jf  elebhiis?aut  fivnwi  p/fK<t  irfw  mnrgne  lihri 

N  ofa  mtjgf  w^^ ///  doma  cp  fud ,  ^f.'^w  vnhi  lucHs 
M  arUs ,€t £oliis uicijuimrufib'^.s  antrmn 

V  w Jfiiw  •  Q^U  rf^wf  ucnti^  cfUiU  tcY<^HSdt  uni  hxdi 
A  eacHs,und^ahusfirt]nadcHehat  dUYum 

V  elliaiU ^(^Udntas  idcuhiurMonychusorncSj 
P  Yontom^Utam^connulf/c^irnarmoYd.  cldtnunt 
S  enif>eY,et affiduoYiiptie UdDYCcviu/mrttS' 

E  xbefks  cddemdfunDno,  minhno'(^,^oeta' 
E  tnos eYnmanum  jtYuliC fnlduximui ^tt not 
C  onfdiU'm  dedimn  SylU,pi}Uiti<s  ut  dltum 
D  OYnHYet-jbilta  c/?  clefn€7itid,aim  fvt  ubiqHe 
\  dhbus  oauYYdi  ,j>eYituY£  pdYaYc  (h-iYt£  • 
C  UY tamtn  hoc  libedt  potius  dcatyYcre atmfo^ 

V  CY  c^uem  mngnas  e(^uos  A  UYWYicccjicxitdlumms, 
S  iHd(Ut,et  ^ddcidiYdtiortemddmitP.Us^edam. 

C  um  tttUY  uxoYcm  duatjfddo ,  M  euid  thufcum 
F  i^t  d^YVAii^ctnuddtcncdtuendhuLiimwnut^ 

V  atridos  omnes  o^ibus  aim  i^roHocct urns, 

A    ii 


72.  Aldine  Italic  as  used  in  Juvenal  and  Persius 
Aldus ^  Venice^  1501 


THE  ALDINE  ITALIC  129 

which  there  are  endless  examples/  As  a  type  it  had  several 
particularly  distinguishing  features:  first,  originality  of 
character;  second,  a  large  number  of  tied  letters,  of  which 
there  are  about  sixty-Jive  in  the  Aldine  Dante  and  Virgil ; 
and  third,  the  use  of  roman  capitals  shorter  than  the  ascend- 
ing lower-case  italic  letters — indeed,  the  dot  of  the  lower- 
case i  stands  above  a  roman  capital  I.  In  pages  of  Dante's 
Purgatorio^  the  capital  belonging  to  the  first  word  of  the  first 
line  of  each  three-line  stanza  is  set  off  from  the  rest  of  the 
word,  following  in  this  Italian  manuscripts  of  the  period. 
Tied  letters  were  used  to  produce  a  cursive  appearance. 
For  these  tied  letters  an  elaborate  case  was  necessary,  and 
thus  composition  became  much  more  difficult ;  but  in  the 
later  Aldine  editions  fewer  tied  letters  were  used,  without 
great  loss  of  effect.  Aldus  employed  his  italic  as  a  text  type 
for  an  entire  book.  It  was  a  character  entirely  independent 
of  roman.  Placing  italic  fonts  on  bodies  corresponding  to 
roman  fonts  was  the  outcome  of  its  later  use  in  connection 
with  roman  for  purposes  of  differentiation,  emphasis,  and 
for  "liminary  and  preliminary"  matter. 

This  Aldine  character  became  the  model  for  all  subse- 
quent italic  types.  In  its  own  day  it  had  a  great  success,  and, 
like  most  typographic  successes  to-day,  was  widely  and 
inaccurately  imitated  ;  but  although  the  Venetian  Senate 
gave  Aldus  an  exclusive  right  to  use  the  character,  a  patent 
confirmed  by  three  successive  Popes,  counterfeiting  went 
on.  The  Italians  called  the  character  Aldino.  By  others  it 
was  called  Italic^  either  because  they  did  not  care  to  give 
Aldus  so  obviously  the  credit  for  inventing  it,  or  did  not 
wish  to  appear  to  have  stolen  it  from  anybody  in  par- 
ticular ! 

A  rival  printer,  for  whom  Griffi  made  another  set  of 

^ Paleografihie  Latine,  pi.  116  a  —  Brief  of  Sixtus  IV,  1472. 


130  PRINTING  TYPES 

punches,  published  Aldus's  own  edition  of  Virgil  in  this 
type,  so  that  his  literary  text  as  well  as  his  type  was  pirated. 
This  same  edition  of  Virgil  was  reproduced  at  Lyons,  with 
a  counterfeit  Aldine  device  upon  it.  Aldus  issued  a  printed 
protest,  and  pointed  out  mistakes  made  by  the  Lyons  printer 
in  his  reprint.  This  document  was  at  once  used  in  produc- 
ing a  new  and  more  correct  Lyons  edition.  Several  series  of 
these  Aldine  counterfeits  appeared  in  Lyons,  of  all  degrees 
of  imperfection ;  the  worst,  perhaps,  being  produced  by  a 
sort  of  Jack-of-all-trades  named  Bartholomew  Trott,  who  in 
these  volumes  described  himself  (as  no  one  else  was  likely  to 
do)  as  "the  honest  book-seller."  The  Giunti  of  Florence  also 
copied  the  Aldine  editions. 

To  the  Lyons  printers  we  owe  the  slanting-  italic  capital 
letters  now  adopted  for  all  italic  fonts.  Artistically  this  was 
not  wholly  an  improvement,  as  roman  capital  letters  gave 
a  page  of  italic  lower-case  type  an  agreeable  perpendicular 
movement  which  italic  capitals  do  not  supply.  So  what  was 
generally  considered  a  fault  in  the  Aldine  italic  was,  typo- 
graphically, one  of  the  best  things  about  it.  The  Aldine 
printing-house,  however,  itself  adopted  italic  capitals  about 
1560,  some  fifty  years  after  the  death  of  Aldus.  Six  differ- 
ent sizes  of  its  italic  type  had  meanwhile  appeared. 

The  Aldine  italic  is  often  spoken  of  as  an  admirable  in- 
vention, and  from  certain  literary  points  of  view,  it  may  have 
been.  But  italic  became  a  workable  type  for  the  printer 
only  when  precisely  that  characteristic  was  discarded  which 
made  it  most  Aldine,  i.e.,  imitation  of  a  cursive  hand. 
Though  the  character  on  which  Aldus  based  his  italic  was 
more  quickly  written  than  the  older  i)ook-hands,  it  was  far 
slower  to  set  up  as  he  rendered  it  in  type :  and  it  certainly 
was  foolish  to  try  to  imitate  written  characters  by  type,  when 
by  so  doing  much  useless  labour  was  necessitated.  It  was  not 


THE  ALDINE  ITALIC  131 

that  Aldus  did  not  know  about  old  Greek  or  the  best  cur- 
rent Humanistic  manuscripts ;  but  he  did  not  think  his 
problem  out.  He  appears  to  have  been  seduced  by  the  amus- 
ing trickery  of  reproducing  current  handwriting  by  type ; 
and  that  is  the  reason  that  in  his  italic,  and  still  more  in 
his  Greek  fonts,  he  was  about  nine  times  too  clever ! 

With  the  Aldine  italic,  originality  of  idea  in  type-forms 
ceases.  The  civilite  introduced  by  Granjon  at  Lyons  a  few 
years  later  was  very  different  in  form  from  italic  type,  but 
the  idea  was  the  same — it  was  a  type  based  on  a  cursive 
handwriting  used  in  a  particular  class  of  documents  and 
of  a  certain  period  and  locality.  The  script  shown  by  type- 
founders now  is  our  version  of  such  types  as  the  Aldine 
italic  and  civilite.  It  is  supposed  to  imitate  our  best  hand- 
writing, though  usually  it  reproduces  the  impossibly  perfect 
letters  of  a  writing-book,  which  if  children  followed  abso- 
lutely and  persistently  we  should  invoke  the  aid  of  the  rod ! 

Of  every  class  of  type  there  are  many  forms,  but  one  or 
two  forms  only  that  are  the  best.  We  can  learn  what  these 
best  forms  are  by  knowing  what  early  handwriting  and 
early  type  was,  and  what  early  printers  meant  to  do.  Only 
when  we  understand  their  problem  can  we  justly  judge 
how  well  they  solved  it.  To  see  what  the  manuscripts  were 
that  they  tried  to  reproduce  in  type  is  a  step  to  this  know- 
ledge ;  to  see  how  forms  produced  by  a  pen  were  changed 
when  rendered  in  metal  is  another.  A  third  step  is  the  real- 
ization of  the  influence  of  history,  nationality,  scholarship, 
and  custom  upon  type-forms.  We  must  also  have  a  com- 
prehension of  the  evolution  of  economic  problems — how 
cheaper  books  were  demanded,  how  that  want  was  met, 
and  what  its  effect  was  on  types  and  their  use.  The  ability 
to  recognize  all  this  can  be  arrived  at  only  by  that  historical 


132  PRINTING  TYPES 

perspective  and  that  training  of  the  eye  which  is  gained  by- 
study  and  observation. 

And,  too,  by  examining  early  types  with  all  these  factors 
in  mind,  we  can  finally  arrive  at  some  approximation  of  a 
canon  of  taste  in  types.  No  person  or  group  of  persons  can 
be  so  opinionated  as  to  assert  that  their  conclusions  repre- 
sent learning  and  taste,  or  expect  them  to  be  so  considered. 
But  any  one  may  arrive  at  sound  conclusions  as  to  types,  if 
he  knows  thoroughly  the  history  of  type-forms,  has  an  eye 
sensitive  to  their  variations,  and  has  familiarized  himself 
with  the  ways  in  which  they  have  been  employed  by  masters 
of  typography. 

Fifteenth  century  tjq^es  are  the  classics  of  type  history. 
We  can  know  very  little  about  the  best  types  if  we  are  not 
familiar  with  them.  But  types  of  this  class  can  be  used  only 
in  accordance  with  certain  conventions  that  often  unfit  them 
for  the  work  of  to-day.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  we  must 
glean  from  types  used  in  different  countries  in  the  sixteenth, 
seventeenth,  and  eighteenth  centuries,  a  knowledge  of  those 
more  modern  typographical  forms  which,  in  a  minor  way, 
are  also  classic,  and  yet  more  related  to  the  printing  we  have 
to  do.  A  man  may  admit  that  Horace  and  Virgil  are  classics, 
and  yet  feel  the  need  of  other  books  in  his  library.  So  it  is 
with  type-forms.  We  cannot  always  use  "classical"  types, 
but  we  can  ah\'ays  use  good  types.  While  it  may  be  neces- 
sary at  times  to  choose  types  for  printing  the  jEneid,  it  is 
quite  as  important  to  know  what  types  to  select  for  the  kinds 
of  books  we  print  so  much  oftener  nowadays.  To  this  end 
we  must  make  some  study  of  the  best  fonts  in  use  in  vari- 
ious  countries  from  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  to  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century. 


CHAPTER  XI 

A  WORD  ON  TYPE  SPECIMENS 

IN  describing  fifteenth  century  types  it  has  been  neces- 
sary to  consider  their  manuscript  sources ;  and  in  order 
to  find  out  what  types  were  used,  to  examine  fifteenth 
century  books ;  so  that  up  to  this  point,  the  printer  and  his 
book  have  been  much  in  evidence  rather  than  his  specimen-, 
sheet  or  specimen-book,  although  as  we  know,  Ratdolt  is- 
sued a  specimen-sheet  at  Augsburg  in  1486.^  Up  to  1480 
or  thereabouts  the  early  printer  was  his  own  type-founder, 
and  not  only  cast  the  fonts  for  his  own  work,  but  designed 
them.  The  exchange  or  sale  of  types  between  different 
printer  type-founders  was  not  very  common.  Their  collec- 
tions were  usually  augmented  by  the  work  of  their  own 
hands.  A  printer's  foundry  was  merely  an  appanage  to  his 
printing-office,  and  the  workman  in  it  was  socially  of  a  lower 
class  than  the  printer.  But  in  the  last  two  decades  of  the  fif- 
teenth century  we  begin  to  find  type-cutters — and  perhaps 
sometimes  type-founders  —  whose  abilities  were  at  the  ser- 
vice of  any  one  who  wished  to  pay  for  them.  These  men, 
however,  probably  worked  —  at  first,  in  any  case  —  to  or- 
der, and  if  they  had  types  for  sale,  put  out  no  "specimens" 
of  them.  It  was  at  this  period,  too,  that  the  division  between 
printer  and  publisher  first  appears. 

For  knowledge  of  type  in  use  in  the  sixteenth  century 
one  is  still  chiefly  occupied  with  the  printer  and  the  books 
he  made,  although  a  few  "  type  specimens  "  were  issued  by 
founders,  and  some  by  printers;  such  as  the  sheet  of  1525 

'  See  Burger's Monumenta  Germanise  et  Italise.  Tyfiografihica,  pi.  5,  or  Red- 
gi*ave's  Erhardt  Ratdolt,  and  his  Work  at  Venice  (Bibliographical  Society's 
Monographs,  No.  I,  London,  1894),  pi.  9.  This  specimen  was  discovered 
about  1884  at  Munich,  in  the  binding  of  an  old  book. 


134  PRINTING  TYPES 

showing  the  types  used  by  Joh.  Petri  of  Basle  ^  and  the 
Nuremberg  specimen-sheet  of  1561  put  forth  by  Valentine 
Gevssler  that  Burger  alludes  to  as  existing  in  the  Borsen- 
verein  library  at  Leipsic.  Plantin  issued  in  1567  an  Index, 
sive  Specimen  Charactenim  C  hristophori  Pla7iti72i^Q,onX.2i\n\T\g  in 
all  forty-one  yarieties  of  letter — seven  Hebrew,  six  Greek, 
twelve  roman  and  ten  italic,  three  scripts  and  three  gothic. 
Later,  one  of  larger  format^  but  without  a  title  or  date,  ap- 
peared. J.  Van  Hout  of  Leyden  also  published  a  specimen 
in  1593.  The  Typographia  Medicea  (founded  by  Cardinal 
Ferdinand  de'  Medici  to  print  the  Gospels  for  Oriental 
peoples)  published  in  1592  an  Arabic  alphabet  and  instruc- 
tions for  the  use  of  Arabic  type,  though  this  could  hardly  be 
considered  a  "specimen.""  Raphelengius,who  was  in  charge 
of  the  Plantin  office  at  Leyden,  issued  a  somewhat  similar 
Specimen  Charactenim  Arabiconim  in  1595.  In  the  sixteenth 
century  there  were  also  men  who  cut  types  to  the  order  of 
printers,  but  I  do  not  know  of  "specimens"  issued  by  them. 
As  to  seventeenth  century  specimens,  that  of  the  printer 
Fuhrmann^  was  brought  out  at  Nuremberg  in  1616,  and 
the  interesting  specimen-book  issued  by  the  Vatican  print- 
ing-office in  1628,*  portions  of  which,  containing  the  sup- 
posed alphabets  of  Adam  and  an  inscription  in  unknown 
characters  found  at  the  foot  of  Mt.  Horeb  (suppressed  in 
the  Specimen  of  1628),  may  have  been  published  by  the 
Propaganda  Fide  a  little  earlier.  The  Propaganda  Fide  is- 
sued, however,  throughout  the  seventeenth  century,  gram- 

'  See  Burger's  Ein  Schriftfirobe  -vom  Jahre  mdxxv.  Leipsic,  1895. 

*  jlfihabetum  ji7-abicum.  In  Tyfiografihia  Medicea  [Rome],  1592. 

*  Tyfiorum  et  Characterum  officinw  Chalcografihife  Georgii  Leopoldi  Fuhr- 
manni  .  .  .  designatio.  Nuremberg,  1616. 

*  Indice  de  Caratteri,  con  Plnventori,  ^  nomi  di  essi,  essistenti  nella  Stamfia 
i'alicana  Isf  Camerale.  Rome,  1628. 


TYPE  SPECIMENS  135 

mar  specimens  of  its  various  alphabets  for  use  in  mission- 
ary work,  the  Alphahetum  Ibericum  appearing  in  1629,  and 
other  alphabets  in  1631,1634,  1636, 1637,  and  1673.These 
were  continued  in  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries/ 
Elzevir  at  Leyden  brought  out  a  specimen  in  1658,  and 
Luther  of  Frankfort,  another  in  1670.  The  widow  of  Dan- 
iel Elzevir  published  a  specimen-sheet  in  1681,  and  Joseph 
Athias,  who  bought  the  Elzevir  foundry,  issued  his  about 
1686.  The  first  English  specimen  was  the  tiny  sheet  of 
Nicholas  Nicholls,  produced  in  1665.  Joseph  Moxon's  spe- 
cimen of  1669  "(the  first  English  specimen  that  is  dated)  and 
the  University  of  Oxford's  specimens  of  1693^  and  1695  are 
among  the  most  notable  English  seventeenth  century  ex- 
amples. 

In  the  eighteenth  century,  we  begin  to  find  men  who 
merely  furnished  types  in  stock  or  cut  them  to  order — 
not  artisans  so  much  as  business  men  who  employed  arti- 
sans— just  as  later  we  find  publishers  who  merely  em- 
ployed printers.  When  the  trades  of  printer  and  founder 
became  distinct,  and  their  interests  separate,  specimen- 
sheets  of  types  became  more  common.  In  a  few  instances 
the  types  in  a  given  printing-house  were  shown  in  speci- 
men-books— which  exhibited  its  equipment  for  custom- 
ers to  choose  from.  But  almost  all  type-founders  put  forth 
specimen-books  and  specimen-sheets  showing  what  types 
they  had  to  sell  to  their  customers,  who  were  the  printers. 
During  the  eighteenth  century,  therefore,  these  were  very 

'  See  Catalogus  Librorum  qui  ex  Tyfiografihio  Sacrse  Congreg.  de  Profia- 
ganda  Fide  variis  Unguis  firodiemint,  etc.  Rome,  1773. 
^Proves  of  Several  Sorts  of  Letters  Cast  by  Jose/ih  Moxon.  Westminster. 
Printed  by  Josefih  Moxon  in  Russet  Street  at  the  signe  of  the  Atlas.  1669. 
^  A  Sfiecimen  of  the  Several  Sorts  of  Letter  Given  to  the  University  by  Dr. 
John  Fell,  late  Lord  Bishofi  of  Oxford.  To  which  is  Added  the  Letter  Given 
by  Mr.  F.  Junius.  Oxford.  Printed  at  the  Theater  A.D   1693. 


136  PRINTING  TYPES 

often  met  with — especially  in  its  later  years.  But  although 
common  then,  these  early  books  and  sheets  are  now  rare. 
Blades  in  his  interesting  little  tractate  on  specimen-books 
laments  their  scarcity.  "Books  such  as  soon  become  obso- 
lete,"  he  says, "have  to  pass  through  what,  with  literal  truth, 
may  be  called  ^  fiery  ordeal.  That  is  ^^'hen  they  become 
too  antiquated  to  be  of  any  value  to  the  current  generation 
and  yet  require  a  century  to  pass  over  their  heads  before 
they  have  any  merit  in  the  eyes  of  the  antiquarian.  Perhaps 
no  class  of  books  is  more  subject  to  this  unkind  destiny 
than  the  specimens  issued  by  Type-founders,  which  soon 
become  so  worthless  in  the  very  eyes  of  their  own  parents, 
that  large  editions  entirely  disappear  and  'leave  no  track 
behind'  even  in  the  very  foundries  which  gave  birth  to 
them.  I  imagine  it  to  be  as  true  of  the  Continental  as  it  is 
of  the  old  English  foundries,  that  not  one  of  them  can  show 
a  copy  of  their  first  specimen  books."  ^ 

These  specimens  are  among  the  important  "sources" 
which  must  be  consulted  in  studying  the  types  of  the  six- 
teenth, seventeenth,  and  eighteenth  centuries. 

After  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  there  seems  to 
be  a  general  and  sudden  decline  in  all  European  countries 
not  alone  in  the  excellence  of  the  types  themselves,  but  also 
in  the  way  they  are  used  —  both  suddenly  falling  away 
from  the  high  standards  of  earlier  printing.  This  is  because 
it  took,  perhaps,  a  century  for  the  printed  book  to  outgrow 
the  influence  of  the  manuscript ;  and  this  hundred  years  was 
over.  As  a  century  covers,  roughly  speaking,  the  lives  of 
three  generations,  it  is  clear  that  a  father,  a  son,  and  a  grand- 

'  Some  Early  Tyfie  S/iecimen  Books  of  England,  Holland,  France,  Italy  and 
Germany.  Catalogued  by  William  Blades,  with  exfilanatory  remarks.  Lon- 
don, 1875. 


TYPE  SPECIMENS  137 

son  might  very  well  be  influenced  by  the  tradition  of  the 
manuscript,  while  to  the  fourth  generation  manuscripts 
would  be  simply  out-of-date  affairs  with  little  direct  influ- 
ence on  printing.  Furthermore,  the  class  of  men  who  had 
by  this  time  become  interested  in  printing  did  not  include 
so  many  people  of  education  as  in  the  first  century  of  ty- 
pography. The  early  printers — more  or  less  educated  men 
— endeavoured  to  copymanuscripts(and  generally  fineman- 
uscripts)  not  alone  in  letter-form,  but  in  arrangement,  in  order 
to  make  the  printed  book  as  nearly  identical  with  the  man- 
uscript as  they  could.  Soon  the  spread  of  literature,  through 
the  medium  of  the  press,  led  to  a  demand  for  more  and 
smaller  and  cheaper  books,  and  printers  were  obliged,  also, 
to  deal  with  entirely  fresh  typographical  problems,  for  which 
the  early  manuscript  was  no  guide.  Then  too  (as  Pollard 
very  truly  says),  "  the  enthusiasm  with  which  the  new  art 
had  at  first  been  received  had  died  out.  Printers  were  no 
longer  lodged  in  palaces,  monasteries,  and  colleges ;  Church 
and  State,  which  had  at  first  fostered  and  protected  them, 
were  now  jealous  and  suspicious,  even  actively  hostile. 
Thriving  members  of  other  occupations  and  professions  had 
at  one  time  taken  to  the  craft.  A  little  later  great  scholars 
had  been  willing  to  give  their  help  and  advice,  and  at  least 
a  few  printers  had  themselves  been  men  of  learning.  All  this 
had  passed,  or  was  passing.  Printing  had  sunk  to  the  level 
of  a  mere  craft,  and  a  craft  in  which  the  hours  appear  to 
have  been  cruelly  long  and  work  uncertain  and  badly  paid." 
Thus  more  books,  cheaper  books,  less  cultivated  men,  new 
problems  which  they  were  not  always  capable  of  solving, 
and  forgetfulness  of  the  standards  which  for  three  genera- 
tions had  influenced  printing,  were  some  of  the  elements 
causing  this  change  in  typography.  It  became,  indeed,  as 
important  for  the  printer  of  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth 


138  PRINTING  TYPES 

century  to  realize  what  the  great  models  in  types  and  print- 
ing are,  as  it  is  for  us ;  and  if  his  printing  then  became 
worse,  it  is  for  precisely  the  same  reason  that  our  own  is 
to-dav  no  better. 


<Smppimc^omM 

mittc  in  at>iut0nummm  pv>' 
pjium  (tttgdu  glonofiffimu: 

gota^omibuB  inmm  mm 

fcnt)cmemplio:t)tnoit  perca 
mtrement)oiut>ttiO'5lrcban^ 
gelccteijli'gcrgratia  quam 

73.  7i//>e  z/iW  m  Dtumale:  Sch'dnsperger^  Nuremberg^  1514 


CHAPTER  XII 

GERMAN  types:  i5oo-i8oo^ 

IN  fifteenth  century  German  gothic  or  black-letter 
fonts,  a  diiferentiation  of  type-faces  began  to  show  it- 
self, as  we  have  seen,  in  the  last  twenty  years  of  the 
century,  between  types  that  were  somewhat  pointed — like 
lettre  de  forme — and  a  rounder,  more  cursive  gothic  letter, 
with  certain  peculiarities — the  closed  a,  looped  b,  d,  h,  and 
1,  and  a  tailed  f  and  s.  The  first  type  was  called  "fraktur." 
The  second — in  its  original  intention  a  kind  of  vernacular 
type,  which  became  very  popular  from  1490  to  1500  — 
was  ultimately  known  as  "schwabacher."  Although  there 
were  many  variants  of  these  two  type-forms,  they  are  the 
ancestors  of  the  two  varieties  of  gothic  character  shown  to- 
day in  German  specimen-books  under  the  same  names.  Of 
these  two  type-families,  the  first  developed  with  extreme  * 
rapidity,  while  the  second  retained  more  or  less  its  primi- 
tive features.  We  are  so  accustomed  to  identify  styles  with 
periods,  that  we  forget  that  there  is  no  sharp  distinction  be- 
tween the  end  of  one  style  and  the  beginning  of  another; 
and  that  the  tendency  which  brings  about  a  change  of  style 
exists  for  a  long  time  before  it  comes  to  its  hey-day,  and 
survives  a  long  time  after  it  has  gone  out  of  fashion. 

Fraktur — the  pointed  form  of  these  two  types — is  the 
first  to  be  considered.  A  Diurnale,  printed  at  Nuremberg  by 
Hans  Schonsperger  in  1514  {Jig.  73),  is  a  splendid  example 
of  early  fraktur,  though  the  type  has  too  much  variety  of 

*  This  chapter,  with  others  which  treat  of  types  from  1500  to  1800,  is  a  guide 
to  a  course  of  exercises  in  training  the  eye.  The  text,  however  much  it  abounds 
in  dates,  names,  or  historical  facts,  is  of  Uttle  importance  compared  with  the 
study  of  the  facsimiles  or  examples  to  which  it  directs  attention. 


140  PRINTING  TYPES 

form.  The  descending  fs  dwindle  to  the  form  of  pegs ;  flour- 
ishes on  capital  letters  and  the  tails  to  the  g's  and  h's  are  all 
too  restless,  and  the  eccentric  curves  in  rounded  portions  of 
capital  letters  are  in  form  particularly  disagreeable  and  vul- 
gar. Special  characters  were  cut  for  this  font,  intended  for 
use  in  the  last  line  of  a  page,  so  that  their  "curly-cues"  could 
project  into  its  lower  margin,  just  as  there  was  a  set  of  let- 
ters with  friskings,  intended  to  gambol  over  the  margin  at 
the  top.  The  classical  example  of  this  kind  of  type  is  that 
shown  in  the  same  printer's  Story  of  the  Knight  of  Teuer- 
danck  (a  poem  of  chivalry  of  very  indifferent  merit),  com- 
posed in  honour  of  the  marriage  of  Maximilian  and  printed 
at  the  Emperor's  expense  at  Nuremberg  in  1517  {Jig.  74). 
It  took  five  years  to  prepare,  and  in  some  cases  punches  were 
cut  for  seven  or  eight  varieties  of  a  single  letter,  andWhen 
proofs  were  first  shown,  printers  could  not  believe  that  it  was 
composed  from  movable  characters.  Ingenious  and  splendid 
as  is  the  effort  of  the  type-cutter  to  imitate  the  work  of  the 
pen,  the  result  scarcely  seems  worth  the  trouble.  It  was  a 
tour  deforce^  and  cannot  be  considered  an  example  of  normal 
type-work.^ 

In  the  pages  of  the  Teuerdanck  the  style  of  gothic  type 
changed  entirely,  and  the  simpler  forms  of  the  older  frak- 
tur  were  twisted  into  less  agreeable  shapes.  These  types  are 
characteristically  German — which  is,  artistically,  seldom  a 
compliment !  An  idea  of  sixteenth  century  fraktur  can  be 
had  from  the  Thumier  Biich^  printed  at  Frankfort  in  1566 

'  Vincenz  Rockner,  court  calligrapher,  designed  the  type  for  the  Teuerdanck, 
and  is  supposed  to  have  copied  it  from  a  manuscript  attributed  to  Johann  Neu- 
dorfer.  At  first  thought  to  be  printed  from  wood-blocks,  an  inverted  i  in  the 
edition  of  1 5 1 7  disposed  of  this  theory.  The  tyjje  (:dso  used  in  the  seventeenth 
centur)')  was  proljably  cut  by  Hieronymus  Andi^ae,  who  had  other  sizes  in 
his  own  printing-house,  where  he  executed  books  for  Diirer.  (For  whole 
upper  and  lower  case  alphabet,  and  figures,  see  Druckschriften,  pi.  3).  The 
Teuerdanck  was  reprinted  by  Schonsjjerger  at  Augsbui-g  in  1519. 


sj  ric§(  k 


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74.  Tz//»e  used  in  Teuerdanck:  Schonsperger^  Nuremberg^  1517 


GERMAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  141 

by  Sigmimd  Feyerabend/  a  page  of  Loneissen's  Von  Zeu- 
men  of  1588-  (without  place  or  printer),  and  the  title-page 
from  the  Strassburg  Fundamentbuch  of  1579,  printed  by 
Bernhard  Jobin  ^fig.  75).  On  this  page  the  third  to  sixth 
and  eighth  to  tenth  lines  are  printed  from  type,  the  form  of 
which  is  nearer  to  German  types  used  three  hundred  years 
later,  than  to  those  of  a  hundred  years  before.  It  is  a  distinct 
decline  from  the  purer  gothic  letter.  In  this  title-page  the 
decorated  letters  are  cut  on  wood,  but  their  tormented  forms 
are  really  Avhat  the  typographer  would  have  been  glad  to 
find  in  type.  Later  this  ambition  was  fulfilled.  These  types 
commended  themselves  to  the  rank  and  file  of  German 
printers,  and  became  the  ancestors  of  the  modern  German 
fraktur.  The  difterence  between  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  cen- 
tury German  fraktur  may  be  seen  in  our  illustration  {jigs. 
76  a  and  76  b). 

For  the  fraktur  of  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century 
a  good  example  is  shown  in  Lied  auf  die  Schlacht  von  Pavia^ 
printed  in  1525.^  By  the  seventeenth  century  the  fraktur 
type-form  had  practically  crystallized,  and  the  changes  that 
occur  in  it  are  not  sufficiently  marked  to  make  it  w  orth  while 
to  pursue  its  history  very  carefully.  Almost  any  German 
seventeenth  century  book  shows  its  usual  style.  Here  we 
shall  leave  it,  for  the  moment,  to  consider  the  character 
called  schwabacher. 

There  were  many  kinds  of  schwabacher  type.  We  find 
a  form  of  schwabacher  used  in  1509  by  Johann  Schoeffer 
at  Mainz  in  his  Reformacion  der  Stat  Franckenfort!'  Much 
the  same  sort  of  type — perhaps  a  little  more  pronounced  in 

^ Druckschriften,  pi.  45.  ^ Ibid.,  pi.  7'J>. 

*  Gustav  Konnecke's  Bilderatlas  zur  Geschichte  der  deutschen  JYationallitter- 
atur.  Eine  Erg'dnzung  zu  jeder  deutschen  Litter atur geschichte .  Marburg, 
1895  (second  edition,  illustrated),  p.  125. 
Druckschriften,  pi.  27,  smaller  text. 


142  PRINTING  TYPES 

its  schwabacher  form — was  employed  by  Chrystoph  Fro- 
schauer  at  Zurich  in  1567  in  his  Kunstiich  Buck  {fig.  77). 
The  paragraph  in  a  cursive  type  imitated  the  German 
handwriting  of  that  period  —  a  fussy,  resdess  kind  of  char- 
acter, which  is  distracting  to  the  eye  and  has  somewhat 
the  appearance  of  ravelled  carpet-threads.^  In  Leonhardt 
Thurneysser  zum  Thurn's  Historia  .  .  .  a//er  .  .  .  Erdge- 
xvechssen^  printed  at  Berlin  by  Michael  Hentzsken  {fig.  78), 
a  schwabacher  type  is  used.  This  last  book  shows  the  rate 
at  \\  hich  both  type  and  composition  went  downhill  after 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century — very  far  from  the  sim- 
plicity of  a  hundred  years  before.  Pages  composed  in  schwa- 
bacher have  head-lines  set  in  tortured  forms  of  fraktur,  and 
words  in  italic  capitals  are  introduced  into  lines  of  black- 
letter.  Then  again,  italic  is  employed  for  Latin  terms  and 
names  in  the  midst  of  black-letter  text,  and  the  notes  are  a 
muddle  of  roman  and  black-letter  characters.  Paragraphs 
are  indented,  and  yet  paragraph  marks  are  used.  Even  the 
hands  and  asterisks  which  mark  the  paragraphs  are  ugly 
in  form.  Everything  about  the  composition  is  bad ! 

As  to  the  sixteenth  century  roman  types  used  in  Ger- 
many, Johann  Schoeffer  of  Mainz  printed  in  1520  Ulrich 
Hutten's  De  Unitate  Ecclesise  Conservanda  in  a  heavy  roman 
type  of  a  kind  very  common  at  that  period,  a  page  of  which 
is  reproduced  {fig.  79).  The  same  printer  in  1525  issued 
the  Canones  Apostolorutn  in  a  larger  and  better  roman  char- 
acter, accompanied  by  a  charming  italic.  While  the  com- 
position of  the  page  was  too  fanciful  for  so  solid  a  letter, 
it  is  an  elegant  piece  of  work,  and  the  types  are  finer  than 
most  contemporary  roman  fonts.^ 

One  city  that  stands  out  splendidly  in  the  work  of  the 
sixteenth  century  German  press  is  Basle.  The  great  figure 

'  Paleografihie  Latine,  pis.  118,  121.  ^  Druckschriften,  pi.  94. 


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DE  VNITATE  EC 

CLESIAECONSERVANDA,  ET  SCHI 

SMATE,  QVOD  FVITINTERHENRI 

CHVM  QVARTVM  IMP.  RO*  ET 

GREGORI VM  SEPT.  PONT.  MAX. 

CVIVSDAM  EIVS  TEMPORIS 

THEOLOGI  LIBER  AB  HVT^ 

TENO  INVENTVS* 

EMO  ASCENDIT  IN  CAELVM, 
I  nifi  qui  defcedit  dc  ex  lo  filius  hominis  ^qui  eft 
'  in  cacio*  Per  haec  fandi  euangelfj  uerba  comen^ 
datdommusunitatemeccIenae,quaepercarita 
temconcordans  membrorum  unitate  colligit 
fc  in  caeUim  in  ipfo  redeptore>qui  eft  caput  ec/- 
clefiae.  Sic  enim  ipk  orat  ad  patrcm  pro  fideli^ 
bus  fuis ,  quos  praedeftinauit  cocordcs  fore  in  uinculo  cari'tatis, 
6^pacis^Rogoinquies,utomesunum(int>ficuttupaterinme, 
&ego  !nte,ut8dipfi'in  nobis  unum  fin^Ss^dilecfliOjquadilexifti 
me,in  ipfis  fit^QCcgo  in  eis«  Vnde  fandus  Auguftinusin  ipfius  Cx 
uangelrjexpofiaone^inunoinqoiteftotejunueftotejunuseftox 
tCySC  uac  illis5qui  oderut  unitatcmecclefiafj  prefumentes  in  homi 
nibus  partes  facere*  Vtinam  uoluerint  hoc  attendere,qui  partes 
in  hominibus  fecerunt^utfaciuntfcindentesunitatem  ccclefiae* 
quale  flagitiufchirmatiscoftat  grauiusefTe^quamfcelus  idolola 
triscjcjuoniamlcgiturinueteriteftamentoidololatriagladiopu 
nita  efte/chifma  autem  hiatu  terraf.Quapropter  necclTarium  du 
ximus  fcribere  aliqua  de  ftatu  huius  teporis  ecclefiac  ♦  quia  quif^ 
quisfcnferitfccireintramaternauifcera  ipfius  eccIefix,nonpo^ 
terit  ei  quando  doluerit,  no  condolere.Diu  enim  eft  quod  in  re^ 
gnoRomaniimperijbcllaubic^,6«^feditionesaguntur,quodfi^ 
lij  a  matris  ecckfiae  gremio  diftrahuntur,  dC  cum  fuperet  in  plu^ 

A  rimis 

79.  Roman  Type  used  by  Schoeffer^  Ma'inz^  1520 


GERMAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  143 

in  printing  there  was  Froben  (1460-1527),  who  set  up  his 
printing-house  as  early  as  1491 ;  but  who  is  now  chiefly 
remembered  by  his  association  with  Erasmus  after  1514. 
Erasmus  Hved  with  Froben  while  some  of  his  books  were 
in  the  press,  and  this  was  the  great  period  of  the  office. 
Among  Froben's  foremost  achievements  were  the  first  pub- 
lished edition  of  the  New  Testament  in  Greek,  with  a  new 
Latin  translation  by  Erasmus,  issued  in  1516,  and  the  edi- 
tions of  Jerome,  Ambrose,  Tertullian,  and  Cyprian  which 
Erasmus  supervised.  Erasmus's  own  books  were  also  printed 
by  Froben;  and  a  portion  of  a  page  from  Adagionim  Opus 
D.  Erasmi  Roterodami  is  reproduced  {^fig-  80).  The  massive 
and  monumental  sort  of  roman  type  which  Froben  used, 
often  combined  with  splendid,  rich  borders  and  initials  in 
close  harmony  with  it,  made  books  of  great  dignity  and  style, 
which  scarcely  miss — but  none  the  less  do  lack — real 
beauty. 

In  the  group  of  distinguished  printers  there,  were  Opori- 
nus,  printer  for  Luther ;  Petri,  Episcopius,  Cratander,  Curio, 
and  Bebel.  Their  editions,  especially  the  folios  embellished 
by  brilliant  decorations  and  initials  by  the  Holbeins,  Urse 
Graf,  and  other  designers,  will  repay  study.  It  is  easy  to 
recognize  most  Basle  books  of  this  period  by  their  heavy 
roman  type,  very  solidly  set,  and  by  certain  typographical 
peculiarities  of  arrangement.  There  are  of  course  excep- 
tions, such  as  the  magnificent  folio  De  Humani  Corporis 
Fabrica  of  Andreas  Vesalius,  printed  by  Oporinus  in  1553 
— a  volume  not  at  all  of  the  Froben  order,  but  reminiscent 
rather  of  Plantin  or  some  Italian  printer.  Its  noble  old  style 
type  and  delicate  italic,  delightful  initial  letters  and  care- 
ful anatomical  engravings,  and  a  famous  title-page  "The 
Anatomical  Chamber"  (attributed  to  Titian  but  by  Gio- 
vanni de  Calcar),  make  up  a  fine  and  unusual  volume.  The 


144  PRINTING  TYPES 

closeness  of  the  type-setting  is  noteworthy  and  recalls  much 
earlier  books,  and  its  presswork  is  uniformly  good. 

Erasmus's  Latin  translation  of  the  New  Testament, 
printed  in  italic  by  Froben  in  1521,  in  a  square  12mo,  is 
an  interesting  example  of  one  of  Froben's  small  yor;/2«^6', 
and  its  brilliant  decorations  make  its  little  pages  almost 
"sing."  The  divisions  are  usually  marked  by  captions  in 
spaced  capitals  used  in  Froben's  characteristic  way.  This 
edition  was  dedicated  by  Erasmus  to  Leo  X  {Jig.  81).  Eras- 
mus's tractate,  Antiharharorum — a  small  quarto  issued  by 
Froben  in  1520,  printed  from  roman  fonts,  with  decorations 
by  Holbein  —  is  another  example  of  Froben's  smaller  books.^ 

The  OJJiciua  Isingnniami  at  Basle  was  responsible,  in 
1542,  for  a  wonderful  botanical  book — Leonhard  Fuchs's 
De  Histona  Stirpium — which  has  various  features  worth 
notice.  For  the  preface  it  employs  a  brilliant  Venetian  italic 
{for  example^  see  jig.  104),  which  on  these  folio  pages  is  most 
eifectively  displayed.  The  indexes  of  plants  in  Greek,  Latin, 
and  German  are  set  respectively  in  Greek,  roman,  and  frak- 
tur  types,  four  columns  to  a  page.  The  text-pages  follow, 
composed  in  the  characteristic  heavy,  squarish  roman  type 
affected  by  Basle  printers ;  the  divisions  of  name,  genera, 
form,  place,  time,  etc.,  under  each  plant  being  set  in  lines 
of  small  spaced  capitals.  The  glory  of  the  book  is  its  de- 
lightful outline  plates  of  plants,  cut  on  wood  by  Veit  Ru- 
dolph Specklin,  which  in  freedom  and  truthfulness  are  be- 
yond praise.  In  some  copies  these  are  carefully  coloured. 
A  full-length  portrait  of  the  author  backs  the  title-page, 
and  a  pleasant  touch  is  given  at  the  end  by  representations 
of  the  two  designers,  Fiillmaurer  and  Meyer,  at  work,  with 

'  For  some  fine  titles,  etc.,  from  his  books,  see  Rvitsch's  B'ucher  Ornamentik 
der  Renaissance,  I,  pis.  40,  41  (Holbein's design),  46  (A.  Holbein),  48,  52, 
53,  and  59  (Holbein's  initials). 


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EPISTOLA      PAVLI      AD      CO/ 
RINTHIOS     PRIMA, 

AVLVS  uocutus  dpohoUsleftt 
ChriBijpcruotuntatem  dci  ^CT  SoSihe 
nes  frdter,ecclejtie  dei  ,c[U(eeji  Corin/ 
thi  yfandificatis  per  Qhrijium  lefum, 
uocatis  fundis  ,««4  cum  omnibus  qui 
inuocmt  nome  domini  nojlri  lefu  Chri 
fti,in  <{uouis  loco  ^uelfuo ,  ttel  noSiro^ 
GratUuohis  O'piixkdeo  putre  no/ 
fh-OfO' domino  lefu  Chrifio,Grjitia5  ago  deo  meofemper  pro 
uohis  dcgrutiit  dci,qu£  ddU  ejl  uohis  per  Chriflu  lefum  ,quod 
in  omnibus  ditati  cflis  per  ipfumyin  omnifermone,  cr  omni  cot 
gnitione(({uibus  rebus  tejiimonium  lefu  Chrijii  confirmdttt  fuit 
in  uohis)  ddeo  ^utno  dejiituaminiin  uUo  dono^expe^idtes  reuc 
Utione  domini  nojlri  lefu  Chrijii ,  q  cr  cofirmabit  uos  ufq^  Ad 
fine  Jnculpatos  in  die  domini  nojlri  lefu  Chrijii,  Tidelis  deus,p  hThejf,^* 
^ue  uocuti  ejlis  i  cofortiu  filij  ippus  lefu  Chrijii  domini  nojlri, 
Obfccro  autemuosfratres ypcr  nomen  domini  nojlri  left* 
Chrifii.ut  idem  loquamini  omnes,0'nonftnt  inter  uos  dijjidia, 
fedfitis  integrum  corpus  eudem  mente  ,^eadem  fententia, 

Significdtum  cjl  cnim  mihi  de  uohis  fratres  mei^kfamiliari 
bus  Chlo<e:>quod  content ionesfint  inter  uos,  Bico  autem  iUud, 
^uod  unufquifc^  uejhum  dicitiEgo  quidemfum  PauliyCgo  uero 
ApoUo^ego  uero  Ccphje,ego  uero  Chri$li,Num  diuifus ejl  Chri 
fiustmm  Junius  crucifixtis  eft  pro  uohis  faut  in  nomine  Pauli 

B.  J        hdptu 


81.  Italic  in  Erasmus's  New  Testament 
Froben^  Basle ^  1521 


GERMAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  145 

flowers  before  them,  while  a  conceited-looking  gentleman 
— the  "sculptor"  Specklin — appears  to  be  impatiently  wait- 
ing for  them  to  get  through ! 

A  beautiful  edition  from  Henric  Petri's  press  is  a  work 
by  Henricus  Loritus  (called  Glareanus  from  his  birthplace, 
Canton  Glarus),  entitled  Dodecachordon.  This  was  written  to 
prove  that  there  were  twelve  ecclesiastical  modes  identical 
with  the  ancient  Greek  modes  in  music.  To  illustrate  this 
the  printer  employs  some  very  interesting  music  types.  At 
the  top  of  the  massive  pages  the  title  is  arranged  in  a  con- 
densed lower-case  Italian  letter  which  gives  great  elegance 
to  the  work.  This  book  (of  its  kind  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished that  I  know)  was  printed  in  1547. 

The  rough  specimen  of  Joh.  Petri  {^fig.  82)  shows  the 
kind  of  roman  and  italic  used  in  Basle  printing-houses,  but 
the  successful  manner  of  its  use  can  be  realized  only  by  see- 
ing such  books  as  I  have  mentioned.  Besides  three  sizes  of 
roman  and  two  of  italic  (the  largest  size  of  each  much  like 
SchoeflPer's),  the  sheet  displays  a  Greek  font  and  some  He- 
brew type.  The  fraktur  at  the  bottom  is  very  characteristic 
in  its  ugliness.  Published  in  1525,  it  is,  except  for  Ratdolt's, 
the  earliest  specimen-sheet  known. 

At  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  use  of  roman 
letter,  or  "antiqua"  as  it  was,  and  is,  called  in  Germany,  be- 
came less  frequent,  and  in  the  seventeenth  century  it  was 
comparatively  little  used.  By  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century  it  succumbed  to  the  popular  taste  for  fraktur — 
though  to  be  revived  a  little  later. 

By  about  1550,  both  fraktur  and  schwabacher  types  had 
taken  on  very  much  the  general  appearance  of  their  mod- 
ern German  equivalents,  except  that  they  were  heavier  and 
more  masculine  in  appearance.  Luther's  German  Bible  of 
1534  shows  a  title-page  set  in  a  heavy,  vulgar  sort  of  frak- 


146  PRINTING  TYPES 

tur/  and  its  opening  page  of  the  Psalter  is  set  in  schwa- 
bacher  types  of  characteristic  form.  The  Faheln  of  Burk- 
hard  Waldis,  printed  in  1550,  shows  again  a  typical  form  of 
fraktur,"  as  does  the  text  of  the  same  writer's  Ursprung  und 
Herkiimen  der  z  wblfersten  alten  Konig  undFursten  Deutscher 
Natiojh 

The  German  books  of  this  period  are  discouraging  typo- 
graphical productions.  Their  general  character  may  be  seen 
by  glancing  at  the  rank  and  file  of  German  folios  in  any 
library  which  owns  a  collection  of  sixteenth  century  Ger- 
man books.  The  curious  may  investigate  perhaps  with 
some  profit  (but  with  little  pleasure)  the  Hohenzollern  Col- 
lection illustrative  of  German  history  given  to  the  library 
of  Harvard  University  by  Mr.  Archibald  Gary  Coolidge  in 
1902.  But  for  most  people,  a  glance  at  the  pages  devoted  to 
this  period  in  Konnecke's  Bilderatlas  will  be  enough.  The 
title-pages  in  which  red  is  so  unsparingly  introduced  are 
typographically  as  tasteless  and  bad  as  they  can  be,  and  ex- 
hibit a  "frightfulness"  which  leaves  nothing  to  be  said.*  As 
the  century  went  on,  the  work  seems  even  worse.  The  His- 
toria  von  D.  Johann  Fausten  printed  at  Frankfort  in  1587^ 
and  other  editions  of  the  same  work  are  very  ugly  and  very 
obviously  Teutonic. 

§2 
The  elaborate  specimen  of  George  Leopold  Fuhrmann  of 
Nuremberg  shows  the  types  in  use  in  the  early  years  of 
the  seventeenth  century  in  a  well-known  German  printing- 
house.  This  book  was  published  in  1616.  Its  introduction 
gives  an  account  of  the  origin  of  printing  and  its  chief  pro- 
moters. The  fonts  which  are  shown  comprise  six  sizes  of 
black-letter,  ten  of  roman  and  italic,  two  of  Greek,  and  four 

'Bilderatlas,  p.  141.  '  Ibid.,  p.  144.  ^ Ibid.,  p.  143. 

*Ibid.,  pp.  151,  153,  154,  156.  "Ibid.,  p.  160. 


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GERMAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  147 

fonts  of  music  with  initials  and  ornaments.  Copies  are  so 
rare  that  I  have  never  had  an  opportunity  to  examine  one. 
German  seventeenth  century  printing  was  not  helped 
by  pompous  and  overcharged  copper-plate  title-pages,  and 
portraits  in  elaborate  frameworks.  These  copper-plate  title- 
pages,  which  took  the  place  of  the  older  red  and  black  titles, 
were  often  imposing.  There  were  typographical  title-pages 
as  well,  but  comparatively  unimportant  affairs,  supplemen- 
tary to  the  engraved  title.  The  tide-pages  in  Zeigler's  Asia- 
tische  Banise^  Leipsic,  1689,^  show  how  badly  things  were 
going  typographically  by  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury.' 

§3 
In  the  eighteenth  century,  the  first  fifty  years  show  but 
little  change  or  improvement.  Look,  for  instance,  at  such 
a  title-page  as  is  shown  in  the  first  volume  of  Broctes's 
Irdisches  Vergnugen  in  Gott,  Hamburg,  1721,^  Gottsched's 
Critischer  Dichtkunst,  published  by  Breitkopf  in  1730,*  or 
^rtiirngtr's  Dichtkiinst^  issued  at  Zurich  in  1740 — as  taste- 
less and  muddled  printing  as  one  can  conceive. 

By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  a  change  of 
fashions  in  German  printing  began.  Vignettes  were  intro- 
duced and  a  little  less  matter  was  put  upon  title-pages. 
Anaemic  roman  types  were  also  occasionally  used.  The 
Messias  of  Klopstock  is  an  example  of  a  book  with  text 
printed  in  vulgar,  overblown  fraktur  types,  with  very  few 

^  Bilder  atlas,  196. 

"  "  The  introduction  of  the  copper-plate  marked  a  new  epoch  in  book  ilhistra- 
tion,  and  wood-engraving  declined  with  its  increased  adoption.  .  •  .  Wood- 
cuts, headings,  initials,  tail-pieces,  and  printers'  ornaments  continued  to  be 
used  [in  books  of  the  seventeenth  century] ,  but  greatly  inferior  in  design  and 
beauty  of  effect  to  those  of  the  sixteenth  century."  Crane's  Decorative  Elus- 
traiion  of  Books,  London,  1896,  pp.  129,  130. 

'  Bilderatlas,  p.  207.  *  Ibid.,  p.  209.  '  Ibid.,  p.  211. 


148  PRINTING  TYPES 

words  on  the  title-page  {Jig.  83).  Such  an  aesthetic  writer 
as  Winckelmann  allowed  his  Geschwhte  der  Kiinst  des  Al- 
terthums  to  appear  (at  Dresden  in  1764)  in  a  very  hideous 
and  typical  German  character  {Jig.  84).  If  a  well-known 
printer  wrote  and  printed  a  book  about  printing,  one  would 
certainly  expect  him  to  execute  it  as  well  as  he  knew  how ; 
and  perhaps  Breitkopf  did,  but  his  quarto  volume  Ueber  die 
Geschichte  der  Erjindung  der  Buchdnickerkunst^  published 
at  Leipsic  in  1779,  is  printed  on  miserable  paper,  in  ugly 
fraktur  type,  poorly  composed — a  volume  such 

As  to  be  hated  needs  but  to  be  seen. 

At  the  end  of  the  century,  still  lighter  and  weaker  types 
and  styles  were  in  vogue.  Lessing's  JVathan  der  Weise  in 
1 779  ^  shows  the  general  feebleness  of  taste.  Herder's  Brieje, 
published  in  1793,  shows  the  fraktur  types  which  had  come 
to  be  the  fashion.^  As  early  as  1775  a  general  desire  for  light 
types  had  influenced  the  forms  of  fraktur  itself,  as  in  J.  G. 
Jacobi's  /m,  evidently  imitating — very  unsuccessfully  — 
contemporary  French  printing  {Jig.  85).  Some  of  the  pale, 
condensed  fraktur  used  at  this  period  was  probably  influ- 
enced by  those  French  condensed  poetique  types  made  fash- 
ionable byFournier  and  Luce.  The  attempt  to  imitate  French 
work  was  also  owing,  in  some  degree,  to  that  fashion  for 
things  French  encouraged  by  Frederick  the  Great,  who  — 
after  those  earlier  tentative  plans  mentioned  by  Fournier 
had  come  to  nothing  —  established  about  1767,  through 
his  court  printer.  Decker,  a  foundry  and  printing-house, 
fashioned  after  the  Imprimerie  Roy  ale  de  France.  The  Par- 
isian founders  Gille,  Fournier,  and  Didot,  and  Bodoni  of 
Parma  were  among  those  who  supplied,  either  then  or  later, 
much  of  its  material. 

'  Bilderatlaa,  p .  23 8 .  '  Ibid. ,  p .  25 1 . 


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1749* 

83.  Title-page  of  Klopstock'' s  Messias:  Halle,  1749 


SoOrtiin    5BindPeImann^, 

<5JraiiI)enfcn6  Der  5{Iterf^umcr  511  ^om,  iinD  ©criftorc  tier  S5aticanifc0cn553i6fiot^eP, 

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t>ou  <5(.  iuca  ju  SKom,  mib  btr^cfrun'fd^cii  ju  Sortonn, 

teg  slKerffmng. 

&Ut  ZUil    ~ 


84.  Title-page  of  JVmckelmann  s  Kimst  des  Alterthums :  Dresden^  1764 

{reduced^ 


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GERMAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  149 

The  printers  and  publishers  who  took  a  principal  role  in 
fostering  the  incoming  taste  for  lighter  types  and  more 
open  composition  which  marked  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  were  Goschen  and  Unger,  and  perhaps  the 
publisher  Cotta  of  Tubingen,  whose  imprints  figure  on 
many  publications  of  the  period.  Georg  Joachim.  Goschen 
(1752-1828)  was  the  publisherof  the  first  edition  of  Goethe's 
Faust,  the  title-page  of  which  is  reproduced  (Jig-  86),  and 
which  speaks — or  "whispers" — for  itself.  Goschen  was 
a  painstaking  printer  and  a  learned  man;  but  he  is  not 
much  remembered  nowadays,  though  he  took  an  impor- 
tant part  in  the  revival  of  fine  printing  as  then  understood 
— notably  in  his  editions  of  Wieland.  On  such  title-pages 
as  his  Faust  or  Unger's  fFilhelm  Meister{Jig.  87)  ue  see 
how  little  was  put  on  the  title-page,  how  poorly  that  little 
was  placed  there,  and  in  what  dejected  looking  characters 
it  was  printed — all  that  remained  of  fifteenth  century  Ger- 
man fonts  after  the  repeated  whittlings  of  these  enlightened 
gentlemen ! 

As  will  be  noted,  almost  all  the  letter-forms  employed  in 
these  later  title-pages  and  books  were  fraktur,  the  schwa- 
bacher  seeming  to  be  displaced  by  its  less  attractive  rival, 
which  in  turn  was  giving  way  before  the  fashion  for  Didot 
roman  types,  which  were  carrying  everything  before  them. 

II 

WE  have  a  contemporary  account  of  type-founding  in 
Germany  and  Prussia  by  Fournier,  who  in  the  year 
1766  wrote: 

"Germany,  the  cradle  of  Printing,  has  successfully  cul- 
tivated the  art,  by  establishing  several  celebrated  foundries, 
which  are  usually  richer  in  material  than  those  of  other 
countries,  because,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  types  com- 


150  PRINTING  TYPES 

mon  to  other  foundries,  those  have  been  added  which  are 
peculiar  to  that  particular  country,  like  the  German  char- 
acters called  Fracture  [sic]  and  Sch\\'abacher,  which  it  is 
necessary  to  have  in  all  sizes  {Jig.  88). 

"At  Vienna  there  are  two  foundries,  of  which  one  brought 
from  Venice  belongs  to  M.  Trattener  [sic],  founder  and 
printer  to  the  Emperor. 

"At  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  there  are  also  two;  the  most 
important,  which  is  very  ampl}-  provided  with  ancient  and 
modern  characters,  is  known  under  the  name  of  the  Lu- 
theran Foundry,  It  belongs  to  M.  Luther,  descendant  of  the 
famous  Luther,  so  well  known  to  the  Christian  world.  It 
is  furnished  with  sets  of  matrices  by  French  artists.^  The 
other,  according  to  the  specimens  issued  in  1714,  belonged 
to  Jean  Henry  Stubenvoll. 

"At  Leipsic  there  are  three  foundries;  the  first  and  the 
most  considerable  is  that  of  M.  Jean  Gottlob  Emmanuel 
Breitkopf,  type-founder  and  printer.  It  is  the  most  interest- 
ing foundry  that  I  know  of  in  Germany,  on  account  of  the 
number  and  variety  of  its  ancient  and  modern  types,  its 
music  types  and  its  ornaments.  The  better  of  the  two  others 
belongs  to  M.  Hr.  Erhardt ;  it  is  fairly  well  equipped  \\ith 
both  Latin  and  German  characters. 

"At  Basle  there  are  two  foundries ;  the  first,  which  is 
very  noted  for  the  number  and  variety  of  its  types,  of  which 

'  The  so-called  Lutheran  Foundry  at  Frankfort  was  the  representative  of  the 
first  printing-office  established  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main  in  1531,  to  which 
a  foundry  was  added.  This  foundry  and  printing-office  descended  thi-ough 
various  liands  to  Erasmus  Lutlier,  a  relative  of  Martin,  under  whom  it  ac- 
quired a  very  great  reputation.  It  supplied  many  German  and  Dutch  print- 
ing-offices with  their  types.  Enschede  thinks  that  the  Elzevirs  of  Leyden  pro- 
cured se\eral  of  tlieir  Cireek  fonts  from  this  foundry;  and  that  Daniel  Elzevir 
and  other  celebrated  pi-inters  bought  its  types  and  punches.  Toward  tlie  end 
of  tlie  eightecntli  century,  much  of  its  material  went  into  the  Berlin  foundry 
directed  by  Unger. 


g   a   II   ft* 

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©  0  e  t  f)  e* 


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icip  J  ig, 
1790, 


86.  Title-page  offrst  edition  of  Faust:  Goschen^  Leipsic,  1790 


2  e  ^  r  j  a  1^  r  e. 


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Sec    ^fo^ann    griebcidj    linger, 

'795. 


8r.  Title-page  of  W'llhelm  Meister:  Unger^  Berlin^  1795 


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GERMAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  151 

some  came  from  French  masters,  and  of  which  new  speci- 
mens were  issued  in  1721,  belonged  at  that  date  to  M.  Jean 
Pistorius,  founder  and  printer.  The  other,  the  stock  of  which 
is  made  up  of  types  more  modern  in  cut,  belongs  to  M. 
Haas,  a  very  celebrated  type-cutter.  The  other  German  foun- 
dries are  as  follows :  to  wit,  two  at  Halle,  two  at  Nurem- 
berg, one  at  Wittenberg,  one  at  Dona,  one  at  Erfurt,  one  at 
Brunswick,  one  at  Liineburg,  one  at  Cologne,  one  at  Augs- 
burg, one  at  Prague,  one  at  Stuttgart  in  Wurtemburg." 

"Prussia  had  no  type-foundry  until  1743,  when  one  was 
brought  from  Brunswick.  It  was  of  little  value  and  was  es- 
tablished in  Berlin.  This  foundry  not  succeeding,  a  man 
named  Kanter  started  another  in  the  same  city,  equipped 
with  fonts  from  the  Breitkopf  foundry  at  Leipsic  and  the 
Zinche  foundry  at  Wittenberg ;  its  stock  has  since  been 
increased  by  other  types  made  by  a  certain  Gallner,  a  rather 
tasteless  and  unintelligent  type-cutter. 

"  The  King  of  Prussia,  wishing  to  establish  a  Royal  Print- 
ing-House  at  Berlin  modelled  on  that  of  the  King  of  France, 
gave  orders  to  procure  at  Paris  the  punches,  moulds,  and 
matrices  necessary  for  a  foundr}^,  which  was  to  form  the 
nucleus  of  such  an  establishment.  M.  Simon,  printer  to  the 
Archbishop  [of  Paris],  being  consulted  about  this  under- 
taking, wrote  and  printed  in  1741  a  Projet  (Tetoblissement 
(Tune  Imprimerie  Royale  a  Berlin^  which  was  sent  to  the 
King,  with  a  recueil  of  my  types,  intended  to  equip  this 
foundry.  This  scheme  having  fallen  through,  the  King 
brought  to  Berlin  a  celebrated  type-cutter  of  the  Hague, 
named  Jean-Michel  Schmidt,  giving  him  orders  to  set  up 
a  Royal  Foundry ;  but  the  wars  which  have  since  broken 
out,  and  the  death  of  this  type-cutter  in  1750,  have  sus- 
pended its  establishment."^ 

Foumier's  Manuel  Tyfiografihique,  Tome  II,  pp.  xxix-xxxiv. 


152  PRINTING  TYPES 

For  the  types  produced  we  have  the  "Specimens"  shown 
in  works  on  typography  by  Pater  (1710),  Ernesti  (l733), 
and  Gessner  (1740-45) ;  and  the  specimen-books  of  Tratt- 
ner  (1759-60)  and  Unger  (c.  1791). 

The  first,  a  small  quarto  book  in  Latin  by  Paul  Pater 
about  printing  and  printing  types,  was  published  at  Leip- 
sic  in  1710  by  J.  F.  Gleditsch  and  Son  under  the  title  of 
De  Germanise  Miraculo  Optimo  Maximo^  I'yp^'^  Literanim^ 
earumque  differentiis,  Dissertatio.  The  third  chapter  treats  of 
the  different  types  then  in  use  in  Germany  and  their  names, 
and  shovv^s  specimens  of  capitals  and  lower-case  in  roman 
and  italic,  in  various  weights,  and  in  sizes  from  Grosse  Mis- 
sal-Versal  to  Nonpareil.  These  are  followed  by  a  variety  of 
fraktur  and  schwabacher  types,  Greek,  Hebrew,  Samaritan, 
Chaldaic,  etc.  The  book  is  probably  one  of  the  earliest  trac- 
tates on  the  typographical  material  of  a  nation,  and  gives 
a  characteristic  collection  of  fonts  in  use  in  German  print- 
ing-houses at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  and  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Its  title-page  {fig.  89)  indicates 
what  could  be  done  when  a  German  printer  took  the  bit 
in  his  teeth.  A  page  of  roman  and  italic  types,  still  retain- 
ing some  good  qualities,  and  another  showing  fraktur, 
schwabacher,  and  roman,  are  reproduced  {figs.  90  and9\). 

The  second  book,  in  which  types  and  printing  of  the 
same  period  are  covered  even  more  fully,  is  J.  H.  G.  Er- 
nesti's  book  Die  Wol-eingerichtete  Buchdruckerey^  a  treatise  A 
on  printing,  published  at  Nuremberg  by  the  heirs  of  Johann 

'  Die  Wol-eingerichtete  Buchdruckerey,  mit  hundert  und  ein  und  zwanzig 
Teutsch,  iMteinisch,  Griechisch,  und Hcbr'dischen  Schrifften,vielerfrenidcn 
SpracheTi  Al/ihabeten,  musicali/schen  .N'oten,  Kalendcr-Zeichen,  U7id Medicin- 
ifichen  Character  en,  Ingleichen  alien  iiblkhen  Formaten  bestellet  und  mit 
accurater  Abbildung  der  Erjinder  der  loblichen  Kunst,  nebst  ciner  smnmar- 
isc/ien  A'achricht  von  den  Buchdruckern  in  JViirnberg.  .  .  .  J^iirnberg, 
gedruckt  und  zujinden  bey  Johann  Andrea  Endters  seel.  Erben.  1733.  An 
earlier  edition  appeared  in  1 72 1 . 


D  E 


GERMANIC   MIRACVLO 

OPTIMO,  MAXIMO, 


EARVMQVE   DIFFERENTIIS, 

DISSERTATIO, 

QVA    S  I  M  VL 

ARTIS    TYPOGRAPHIC^ 

VNIVERSAM    RATIONEM    EXPLICAT 

PAVLVS  PATER,  PP. 


Proftat  L  I  P  S  I  u£, 

Apud  JO.FRIDER.  GLEDITSCH  ET  FILIVM. 

As^o    M-D  C  ex. 

89.  Title-page  of  Pater's  Dissertation  Leipsic^  1710  {reduced) 


rsxtuatis  quadratus:  Text  Verfal  Antiqua  Unb  Crtpftdf^Ctl. 

LABORE  MONACHORUM 

MANUALI,  TYPIS  LITERARUM, 
NOSTRA  ^TATE,  MULTA  QUO- 

TIDIE     LiBRORUM     VOLUMINA     In 

LUCEM  PrODEUNT:  Bmdem 

E'liuJem  Curfttus  :   Text  t^erfal  Curjh. 

HABEMUS  ABUNDANflAM 
BONORUM  LIBRORUM,  EOS- 
QFE  PER  MANUS  IGNORAN- 
riUM  SCRIPfORUM,  NEQTE 
It  A  MEN  VmAtOS.  Irithemm. 

Textuatis  antiqvus  ^arhar*     Text  antiq^aa  : 

Stant  &  augentur  commerciis  artibus- 
gue  Mechanicis  regna^  quse  ire  in  peius 
6c  minui  certumeft,  ubi  quilibet  e  po 
^ulo  icitatur  literas:  raro  mercatorem  fe 
terat^  qui  ex  literis  gloriatur.  Gramond. 
hi/i.  GaU. 

Idem  Curfivus  harharicta :   Text  Curjiv, 

Qvodji  clarisjtmorum  in'ventorumfoler- 
tia  dtvinitatem  oUm  quihusdam  morfalu 
hus^  communi  gentium  confenjlone  conci- 
liavit ;  qvo  honoris  titulo  dignos  cenfehis^ 

90.  Types  from  Pater's  Dissertation  Leipsic,  1710 


^tac^t;  f^in^c^en  ncl)men  (le  db,  uiib  mulTen  Dergd^ett, 
tt)D  dn  jcber  aus  t)em  ^6bel  mil  bcm  ©tubirm  nac|)^ 
gef)en :  ®enn  tt)er  |i4)  xnfymtt,  ba^  txftubittt  babe, 
t^r  mirb  nicbt  leid)t  einen  J^miffmann  abgeben,  |^)rei;s 
bet  itnb  ttrtf;er(et  Gramond,  em  Svan^6fifd)ci:  Hifto- 

ricus. 

Wlitttl  ^mba^tv. 

IC/  and)  Allctt  wdrKcbcrt  (Dbirigfeiteft  mb  (B^ifiUd^m 
inciufive,  fimb  gemad)t/  perMandatum,acbtsiibAbejtauf 
fefc  @d)«Iett/  bie  ingenia  ftupida,  obee  t^Ip^cbc  ^oprfe/ 
bie  ^algff arri'gc  Unb  Smk  ni<bt  $«  toierirert/  ober  sii 
balreit ;  fottbernr  jw  anberrt  ^anbrbicrwngctt  unb  Ma- 
mhautm  an^uwdfm/^amit  t>kSki&Sm  md}t  QQUn^ 

bittf  bie  Seminaria  fticbt  bcfcbWCret/  IIOcl)  blC  beneficia 

Ki*tewwt:bigen£eiiteft  mod)tert  conferirct  wcebert/tinb 
alfo  bcm  Publico  Uin&d)ab€ohct:&d)mtcvoni\ymn 
erw<td)je»    SBerIm  \;)om  8  September  be^  1708. 3a^re^. 

D  ^ttf! !  fcer  ni^t^  in  0i^m  iiij 
S)ie  ^ivi)t  tan  in  Uimv  Srlfi 

j^ktohm  bid)  befle^etn 
SBa^  ac^t  ic^  dlatt)''^an^j  ^ancckt)/ 
SBci^  ©c^&ppcnliubl/  wa^@d)relberc);/ 

2Bo  bit  bid)  nic^t  (df!  fcJjm? 
S)u  biflr  ber  i^mffe  Kbnlgfrt/ 
Sa  fe&fl  bcr-  5Bclg()clt  SJJcijIcrln: 

®a§  Sftv^ocarcrt  fmb  ^e(ef)rr/ 

®a§  mart  ben  §(r^t  ()dlt  podj  imb  wcrt!)/ 
®ag  man  t^u  £c{)rer  licbcr : 

91.  Fraktur  and  Schxvabacher  Types:  Pater's  Dissertatio,  Leipsic^  1710 


GERMAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  153 

Andrea  Endters  —  a  well-known  "printing  family" — in 
1733.  After  about  fifty  introductory  pages  the  specimen- 
sheet  begins,  probably  from  the  Endters  ])rinting-office,  and 
showing  its  types  in  1721.  Here  we  have  ten  pages  of  frak- 
tur,  starting  with  the  shaded  "Imperial"  letters  and  ending 
with  pearl — forty-seven  varieties  of  every  degree  of  taste- 
lessness  and,  in  the  smaller  sizes,  every  variety  of  illegibil- 
ity, though  a  few  of  the  latter  have  some  distinction.  In  cer- 
tain cases  larger  types  are  introduced  in  lines  of  another 
font,  quite  in  the  manner  of  the  lining  system  to-day.  The 
schwabacher  letters  are  fairly  good  characters  and  retain 
their  sturdy  traditional  forms. 

Twenty-two  sizes  and  varieties  of  roman  and  fourteen 
varieties  of  italic  are  shown.  In  the  larger  sizes  of  roman, 
the  letters  are  narrow  and  condensed  and  there  are  exces- 
sive contrasts  between  the  thick  and  thin  lines,  but  as  sizes 
become  smaller,  the  Roman  letter  becomes  rounder  and 
more  monotonous  in  colour.  Awkward  in  shape  and  arranged 
in  lamentable  fashion,  books  printed  in  it  were  easier  to 
read,  but  scarcely  less  ugly  than  when  printed  in  fraktur. 

The  italic  type  displayed  has  the  same  faults  as  the  ro- 
man—  round,  open,  but  awkward  in  shape  and  quite  with- 
out charm.  It  is  supplied  in  a  light  and  a  heavy  face,  the 
latter  to  be  used,  probably,  with  fraktur.  One  reason  why 
the  effect  of  these  italic  types  is  so  faulty  is  their  miserable 
fitting  and  the  wretched  composition,  and  it  is  only  fair  to 
say  that  on  such  yellowing,  spongy  paper  no  character 
could  be  given  a  lively,  sharp  impression.  This  specimen 
also  shows  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  exotic  types,  characters  for 
music,  the  calendar,  medicine,  etc.  At  the  end  of  the  book 
is  a  garden  of  type-flowers  or  "Roslein,"  which  displays 
many  of  the  good  old  traditional  patterns  which  have  never 
been  bettered  {fig.  92). 


154  PRINTING  TYPES 

A  third  "source-book"  is  Christian  Friedrich  Gessner's 
Buchdnickerkunst  iind  Schnjigiesserey^  published  in  four 
vokuTies  at  Leipsic,  between  1740  and  1745.  Apparently 
this  work  was  to  an  eighteenth  century  German  printer 
and  amateur,  what  Fournier's  Manuel  Typographique  was 
at  that  date  to  Frenchmen  of  similar  tastes.  The  first  \o\- 
ume  contains  an  account  of  the  invention  of  printing,  lives 
of  printers  (especially  those  of  Leipsic),  portraits  of  all  de- 
grees of  interest  and  excellence,  printers'  marks,  plans  for 
imposition,  and  alphabets — Greek,  Hebrew,  Syriac,  Turk- 
ish, Arabic,  Coptic,  Armenian,  etc.  There  are  chapters  on 
orthography ;  and  plates  showing  the  ancient  cases  for 
Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  Arabic,  and  other  languages.  Type- 
founding  is  accurately  illustrated,  and  there  are  pictures 
of  presses,  the  case,  and  compositor's  material,  tools,  and 
appliances  down  to  the  diminutive  candle  which  gave 
him  light.  But  it  is  the  Schrift-Probe  or  specimen  of  types 
in  Bernhard  Christoph  Breitkopf's  (1695-1777)  foundry 
which  is  interesting  to  us." 

Of  the  German  eighteenth  century  type-founders,  Breit- 
kopf  is  easily  the  most  important.  He  began  life  as  a  jour- 
neyman printer,  started  as  a  type-founder  in  1719,  and  pub- 
lished this  specimen-sheet  of  his  foundry  at  Leipsic  in 
1739.  He  apparendy  cut  most  of  his  own  punches.  He  was 
also  a  musician,  and  the  name  is  familiar  in  connection  with 
music  printing.  When  Goethe  \\'ent  to  Leipsic  in  1765  he 
met  Breitkopf,  and  some  of  the  poet's  earliest  poems  were 

'  Die  so  noting  als  niltzliche  Buchdruckerkunst  und  Schriftgiesserey,  mit 
ihren  Schriften,  Formaten  und  alien  dazu  gehorigeji  Instrumenten  abgebil- 
det  audi  klUrlich  hcschrieben,  und  nebat  einer  kurzgefansteii  Erz'dhlung-vom 
Ursfirung  und  Fortgang  der  Buc/idruckcrkurist,  iiber/uiu/it,  insonderheit 
von  den  vornehmsten  Bitchdruckern  in  Leijizig  und  andern  Orten  Teutsch- 
landea  im  300  Jahre  nach  F.r/indung  derselben  ans  Licht  gestellet.  .  .  . 
Lei/izig,  ben  Chrintian  Friedrich  Gessner,  1749.  4  vols. 
*  Vol.  I,  p.  145,  second  scries  of  folios. 


?o 


^ 


^ 


cC 


•^ 

^ 


s 

2 

6 


GERMAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  155 

set  to  music  by  the  son,  Johann  Gottlob  Immanuel,  who  suc- 
ceeded his  father  in  the  conduct  of"  the  foundry,  and  was  also 
a  bookseller  and  printer.  The  latter  was  a  contemporary  of 
Fournier,  and  they  corresponded  on  the  subject  of  music- 
printing.  His  own  improvements  in  music  types  were  intro- 
duced about  1754.  Another  idea  of  Breitkopf's  was  map- 
printing  from  types,  and  he  also  did  something  toward  re- 
forming the  shape  of  German  characters,  a  field  in  which 
there  was  illimitable  opportunity.  When  he  died,  his  print- 
ing-house was  one  of  the  largest  and  most  important  in  the 
country.  He  was,  it  is  said,  the  purchaser  of  some  of  Basker- 
ville's  matrices.  The  house  he  founded  is  still  extant. 

Fournier  said  Breitkopf's  foundry  was  "the  first  and  most 
considerable  of  those  at  Leipsic,  and  the  most  interesting 
foundry  that  I  am  familiar  with  in  Germany,  on  account 
of  the  number  and  variety  of  its  ancient  and  modern  types, 
its  music  types,  and  its  type  ornaments."  The  first  four 
pages  of  Breitkopf's  specimen  show  eighteenth  century 
fraktur(^^.93),and  the  next  four  pages  fraktur  and  schwa- 
bacher  together — the  latter  the  better  of  the  two,  especially 
in  larger  sizes.^  Nothing  good  can  be  said  about  the  fraktur 
letters.  The  roman  and  italic  types  in  this  specimen  are 
unattractive,  too.  The  capital  letters  are  very  condensed  and 
show  excessive  contrasts  of  thick  and  thin  lines,  and  com- 
pare unfavourably  with  those  in  Pater's  volume.  The  lower- 
case roman  in  the  medium  sizes  is  square  and  blocky  in 
effect  {Jig.  94).  As  the  sizes  grow  smaller,  the  effect  be- 
comes more  and  more  monotonous  and  "airless."  The  italic 
is  somewhat  condensed  and  ungainly  in  design.  Some  of 

*  Fournier  says  that  schwabacher  "has  been  veiy  much  used  in  Germany  — 
where  it  took  the  place  of  italic  when  employed  with  the  German  character, 
or  to  indicate  some  other  text  than  those  which  were  represented  by  tlie 
German,  roman,  and  italic  chai-acters  employed  in  the  same  work." 


156  PRINTING  TYPES 

these  types  were  cut  by  ChristianZingkof  Wittenberg,  no 
doubt  the  foundry  "r/e*  Zinche  a  Wittemherg'''  of  which  Four- 
nier  speaks,  and  others  by  Johann  Caspar  Muller  and  Joh. 
Peter  Artofao,  of  Leipsic,  Andr.  Koler  of  Nuremberg,  and 
Pancr.  Lobingerof  Vienna.  The  four  fokling  plates  following 
this  specimen  of  Breitkopf 's  show  Dutch  types  of  the  period 
which  came  from  the  foundry  of  Erhardt  {^jigs.  217  and  218) 
at  Leipsic,  which  Fournier  says  was,  after  Breitkopf 's,  the 
best  establishment  there.  For  tastelessness  of  composition  no 
example  could  be  more  to  the  point  than  this  book,  which 
was,  nevertheless,  published  in  the  interests  of  typography. 
The  specimen  of  Johann  Thomas  Trattner  of  Vienna 
may  properly  come  under  German  specimen-books  of  this 
period.  Its  various  parts  devoted  to  roman,  German,  and  ex- 
otic types  and  ornaments  were  published  in  1759  and  1760.^ 
The  roman  types  are  mostly  beneath  contempt;  and  the 
models  for  them  seem  to  have  been  gathered  from  the  four 
quarters  of  the  earth.  Some  show  Dutch  influence,  others 
French,  and  a  few  of  a  very  round,  colourless  roman  and 
italic  are  so  bad  that  they  could  have  originated  nowhere 
except  in  Trattner's  own  foundry  !  A  condensed  and  irregu- 
lar Dutch  italic  is  one  of  the  features  of  the  Latin  types.  To 
German  text  types  some  ornamented  letters  add  a  touch  of 
horror  hitherto  unachieved  by  any  Teutonic  t}-pe-cutter; 
but  the  entire  vulgarity  of  the  fraktur  displayed  is  relieved 
by  some  very  good  schwabacher  fonts.  In  Trattner's  frak- 
tur, as  in  his  roman  fonts,  there  seems  to  be  a  taste  for  a 
thin  condensed  letter,  modelled  on  the  condensed  types  then 
popular  in  France.  A  great  many  ornaments,  mostly  copied 
or  derived  from  French  work  of  the  period,  are  displayed  in 

'  Tlie  title-page  of  the  first  part  reads :  S/iccimen  Characterum  Latinorum 
existcntium  in  Caesarea  ac  Rrgio-Aulica  Tyfiorum  Fusura  afiud  Joannem 
Thomam  Trattner,  etc.  Vienna,  1759.  A  second  edition,  enlarged,  appeared 
in  1769,  sometimes  to  be  found  with  a  supplement  dated  1782. 


Bcl>dfc-Pcobeft,  149 

Xqt  gractur. 

§Sti[et/  ba^  Oft  ni^t  mit  m^ 
gdngf!(f)cm  (3iikt  o&cc@olbe  eiv 
(pfet  fci)b  eon  eiicem  eiteln  SBan^ 
i)el/nacf)»dtei1(c()ccSBe(fe;  fon^ 
i)ecit  mit  i)em  t^euten  S3liite 


SBuften,  manbtenfie  fic^  gegen  J)eit  ^aw^ 
fell/  unb  fie^e,  ba  lagen  t)ie  t:o&teiT  £ei(^^- 
name  auf  ber  Sr^e^,  t>a^  feiner  entrunen 
n)ai%  Unb  3ofap^at  f am  mi't  {mm  25of f , 
t^ren  3lau6  au^  jut^cilem 

©ittgct  ©ott,  (cbfmi^ct  feinem  S^afjmeu/ma^ 
^et  ba^n,  bem,  bcr  ba  fanft  ^erfd^ret ;  Sr  ^ei? 
get  Jperr  unb  fituct  cud)  t?ov  il^m.  2)cr  cm 
23atcrifl  bcr  2Bm)fert,  unb  ciit  9?icJ)ter  ber 
Sffiitttven ;  &  ifl  ©ctt  tti  fcincr  ^eid'fien  2Bof>*' 
nuim.  (Eiti  ©ott,  bcr  ben  ©nfamcn  ia^^ani 
t?ollmnbcvsie&ct. 

93.  Fraktur  Types  from  Breitkopfs  Schrift-Probe 
Letpsic,  1739 


r—i         — — 


©cbrifc  =  Probcn,  157 

Xcrtia  ^intiqua. 

Jova,  noli  in  me  iraciinde  animad- 
vertere :  noli  me  atrociter  punire. 
Miferere  mei  aegrotantis,  leva:  fane 
me,  lova. 

^citi'a  (Turfi't). 

"[^ovarii  mihi  jugitcr  habeo  propoji^ 
turn ,  quo  mihi  dextro  non  labe  fiam. 
Itcique  non  tantum  animo  ^  mente  la^- 
tor  ^  exalto, 

(Sro5e!5}^ittcl5(ntiqua, 

Sed  me  vitse  viam  docebis  tu,  apud  qiiem 
plene  gaudiorum  ad  eft  copia,  cujus  in  dex- 
tra  perennes  funt  voluptates. 

Ttaque  non  tantum  animo  &  mente  Ixtor  & 
exalto ,  verum  etiam  ipfum  corpus  meum  tuto 
degit ,  quoniam  tu  nos  es  animam  meam  relidu- 
ras  oreo,  nos  es  pafTurus. 

Vitrei  (TurfiD, 

Quum  ^ov£  conjidam^  cur  animae  Jic  iicitis? 
facejje  in  veftrum  montem  volucris.     Ecce  autem 
arcus  in  tendunt  impii  adapraris  ad  nermmfuis 
figittis^  ut  clam  in  homiriesfrugijaculentur. 

@ro5e 

94.  Roman  and  Italic  Types:  Breitkopfs  Schrift-Probe 
Leipsic^  1739 


GERMAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  157 

combinations  which  have  much  of  the  ingenuity  of  current 
French  work  and  few  of  its  agreeable  qualities.  We  repro- 
duce a  pageof  schwabacher  and  fraktur,  the  latter  in  the  con- 
densed form  alluded  to  {Jig.  95),  and  a  page  of  these  vignettes 
de  fonte  {Jig.  96). 

Johann  Frederic  Unger  (1750-1804)  of  Berlin  was  the 
individual  who  figured  as  the  chief  representative  in  Ger- 
many of  the  Didot  and  Bodoni  influence.  He  was  a  really 
learned  and  distinguished  man,  a  friend  of  Goethe  and  a 
correspondent  of  Schiller.  His  foundry  and  printing-house 
contained  the  chief  part  of  the  ancient  material  of  the  old 
Lutheran  foundry  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  which,  toward 
the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  Unger  acquired  for  his 
Berlin  establishment. 

Unger's  Schriftprohen  der  Didotschen  und  gerub/mlichen 
Lettem^  issued  about  1791  at  Berlin,  clearly  exhibits  the 
sort  of  thing  he  was  introducing  into  German  typography, 
and  some  of  the  pared-down  fraktur  types  and  a  page  of 
the  new  decorations  (so  called)  which  Unger  introduced 
are  shown  {Jigs.  97a  and  91  h).  The  hair-like  serifs  and 
light  strokes  in  the  roman  letters,  and,  under  the  heading 
A'eue  Deutsche  Letteni^  the  anaemic  italic,  the  condensed  and 
fantastic  fraktur  fonts,  show  what  he  desired  to  popularize 
in  German  typography.  Relegated  to  the  back  of  this  prim 
little  book  are  the  Ordinaire  Deutsche  Lettem^  both  in  schwa- 
bacher (some  of  them  excellent)  and  fraktur,  which  at  least 
have  the  merit  of  a  certain  robustness.  Cursive  letters,  a 
repertoire  of  colourless,  starved-looking  borders,  and  a  fold- 
ing-sheet of  forlorn-looking  music  types,  complete  the  col- 
lection. The  Neue  Deutsche  Lettern  in  this  specimen  were 
cut  by  Unger  and  his  engraver  Gubitz,  except  the  Corpus 
Fractur,  which  Firmin  Didot  engraved.  Didot's  types  may 
be  contrasted  with  Unger's  modifications  of  German  fraktur 


158  PRINTING  TYPES 

{Jig.  98),  where  I  think  linger  went  Didot  one  better — 
or  worse! 

At  this  period  German  typography  sunk  to  its  lowest 
ebb.  Up  to  that  time  German  fonts  had  some  strength  and 
the  composition  some  character;  but  by  the  year  1800  the 
boldest  and  noblest  typography  in  Europe  had  degenerated 
to  the  weakest  and  poorest  What  happened  to  it  later — 
in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century — is  "not  worth 
forgetting."  Of  its  connection  with  the  modern  English 
revival  of  printing,  I  have  later  to  speak. 


XXI.  Cicero  Qt^Wi\U'fi)tv. 

JDocb  neinl  Aem  leeree  ©ct)attenbilt>  -^at  2iw 
gert  imt>  (0el;ot  gefuKt:  ^iit  lcbtcttt)er  ^ettug 
^ieU  meirtert  Btrtrt  gebimben*  i)ut;cb  fie/  C>uccb 
{[^tc^nlfailnn  -^a^bu,  Vctnunftl  benSdnb 
beswimgert*  3^m  witrb  nut  Sc^tmpf*  ^et 
Bteg  wirb  t>em,  jft)n  (?at:  ^m  ^tcfetuitt>  fie 
vetbrimgert. 

XXir.  ©armonb  ^wctur, 

Die  i^ifl ,  tie  Mr  ben  5<Jir  getco^t,  ©c^^agt  auf  fein  flo^ 
;e^  j^aupt  jurucJe.  Die  58clt ,  fcie  i^m  bett  ^al^  juc  ^nec^^ 
fd)oft  n)itli3  bot^,  ©icl^t  t^t  mit  aufgeflacterm  S3Ucfe.  2)tc 
^unfle  ffo^n  t)on  unfreuJ^utten,  Sa^Bar^acei)  fur  SCnkc^t 
gait,  ©a  mail  25ernunft  fur  gcec|)^eit  fd)aU;  S$t  ^attie 
neue  ^unfl  ten  touRen  ©ei|!  bejlcitten.  Du  ragfl  nod^  i^t, 
0  5(rtert§um !  Sn  unbefannteir  9^acl)t  tegcaben.  5Bo  rt>ac 
Unflei'Mid)fci£  unb  S^u^m,  Die  tic  bie  treuen  ©o^ne  gabeii? 
©ie  n)acen  noc^  ber  ^ottm  dla\xb,  De^  fcec^eit  Ungejiefec^ 
6peifp. 

XXIII.  gine  anbece  ©atmonb  ^ractup. 

Um^iiflte  nic^f  ncd^  je^t ,  SSir^il,  ein  etrgec  ©taub  Die  ^nic^t 
bonbeinem  langen  §(<i|[e?  (Jntjucft  un^  m^l,  mi  9Ttom  entjucfte, 
Da  beinen  9}iunb,  metn  Strero,  (fin  freezer  ffatiUnaflo^?  SBofern 
e^  nic^t  ber  Dtiicf  bcm  GJeij  ber  3eit  entriicffe.  llmfonjl  ^dtt  euc^ 
be^  ©tucfe^  ®iin|l  SSor  longobarbfc^er  Sut^  bcrflecfet ;  ^dtt  cuc^ 
nic^t  ii^t  bie  Dnicfcrfiinfi  S5om  Xobe  irieber  aufg^ft^fcfet.  2Bem 
fdngipomet?  2Bcn  ru^rteti^r?  S5om  Sp^eu(au5  nmfc^Iungne  ©tir^ 
ncn  ?  Sinn  2efet  iPiirbe  je^t ,  Demot[)ene^!  mit  bir  5{itf  be^  ^^itip- 
pu^  ^errfc^fuc^t  jiirnen.  SBic  oft  ^at  euc§  bet  Xob  bebro^et ,  Der 
eiiren  ^att  burcj)  f  rieg  gefurt)t  ?  Der^rieg  jirang  euc^ju  neuer^Uic^t, 
5[^p  .^iinjie ,  ba  i^x  ncc^  ben  erften  2Biitf)  entjlofjct! 

XXIV.  (!ine  anbere  &amonh  ^wctuc. 

JSctgnugebicf)  mein  (Binit,  iinb  l<i^'i>tm  (Sc^icffafioarteit' 
@5  trei^ ,  ivDwuf  bu  luoctett  fafft :  2)a5  luabte  GJfucfc 
Ijat  vecfd^iebene^GJeflarteit/  Unb  ffeibet  ftd)  ni(^t  nuc  in  GJoIb. 
2;)eitt  QJeijl  juiicft  ia  no(^  ftei)  in  ungefcanftcn  ©riebccn, 
Du  ()aft  nod)  »P)flua  unb  33atecranb :  SBombci;  f  fagft  bu 
benn?  ^w  ©tofj  f4)amt  fid)  im  O^^iebcptt  Unb  Uebepittutf) 
im  ^OKittefOanb. 


95.  Schwabacher  and  Fraktur:  Trattner's  Abdruck  dererjenigen 
Deutschen  Schriften,  etc.^  Vienna^  1760 


Smll^^^^iltilii^^^ 


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CHAPTER  XIII 

ITALIAN  types:    I5OO-I8OO 

ITALIAN  printing  during  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century  retained  a  certain  elegance.  The  tradition  of 
monumental  work  had  not  died  out,  and  we  see,  as  late 
as  1560,  some  very  noble  books  in  a  fine  form  of  roman  letter 
either  reminiscent  of,  or  printed  in,  fifteenth  century  fonts, 
such  as  were  sometimes  called  the  carattere  Veneto.  There 
was  still,  in  the  types  and  their  use,  the  grand  manner.  From 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Italian  printing  sharply 
declined  in  excellence.  The  roman  and  italic  letter  had  some 
time  before  this  become  generally  popular,  so  that  the  types 
used  w^ere  not  very  often  of  Gothic  form.  But  \a  hile  Italian 
roman  type  did  not  possess  all  its  early  elegance,  the  great 
declension  came  in  its  use.  By  looking  at  a  few  books  which 
are  average  specimens  of  Italian  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  and 
eighteenth  century  printing,  it  is  easy  to  see  by  what  route 
it  ran  downhill. 

§1 

Ovid's  Metamorphoses  with  commentary  by  R.  Regi,  pub- 
lished at  Milan  in  1509  by  Nicolas  Gorgonzola,  is  a  book 
which  at  first  sight  might  have  been  printed  in  the  fifteenth 
rather  than  the  sixteenth  century.  The  text,  in  large  roman 
type,  runs  at  the  right  of  left-hand  pages  and  the  left  of 
right-hand  pages,  and  the  outside  of  the  page  is  filled  (as 
in  manuscripts)  by  wide  columns  of  notes,  set  in  smaller  ro- 
man characters.  These  columns  of  notes,  much  infested  by 
a  family  of  very  black  paragraph  marks,  are  allowed  to  come 
just  as  they  will — sometimes  extending  to  the  bottom  of 
the  page,  sometimes  not,  and  here  and  there  surrounding 
three  sides  of  the  text.  At  the  beginning  of  each  Book,  an 
unattractive  initial  is  usually  inserted,  to  take  the  place  of 


160  PRINTING  TYPES 

those  before  painted  in  by  hand ;  for  spaces  were  still  some- 
times left  for  an  illuminator's  work.  This  detail  indicates  a 
beginning  of  the  decline  in  Italian  book-making ;  but  this 
book  maintains  something  of  the  grand  manner  {Jig.  99). 

Boccaccio's  Decameroney  issued  in  the  name  of  the  heirs 
of  Filippo  di  Giunta  at  Florence  in  1527,  like  so  many 
Giunta  books,  very  closely  imitates  the  Aldine  style.  It  is 
printed  entirely  in  one  font  of  italic  type,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  its  tide-page,  headings,  and  running-titles,  which  are 
in  roman  capitals.  Small  roman  capitals  are  used  with  the 
italic  letter,  and  spaces  are  left  for  initials  to  be  filled  in  by 
hand.  Its  use  of  italic  makes  it  a  sixteenth  century  book,  but 
it  would  be  a  very  creditable  and  beautiful  volume  for  any 
century.  An  imitation  of  this  edition  was  made  at  Venice  in 
1729,  which  may  be  consulted  if  the  edition  of  1527  is  not 
available. 

Books  A^ere  still  printed  in  gothic  types,  and  a  Venice 
edition  of  the  Opera  of  Boethius,  printed  by  Luc  Antonio 
Giunta  in  1536,  is,  in  its  arrangement  and  its  black-letter 
type,  completely  Gothic,  and,  in  its  way,  very  handsome. 
It  is  set  chiefly  in  two  sizes  of  Italian  gothic  characters,  ar- 
ranged in  double  column.  The  running-titles  are  in  a  large 
size  of  much  the  same  letter.  Marginal  notes  set  in  small 
black-letter  and  arabic  numerals  for  folios  are  perhaps  not 
quite  in  the  style;  nor  is  the  tide-page,  which  shows  signs 
of  "display"  lines.  Yet  the  book  is  a  reminder  of  the  per- 
sistence of  black-letter  volumes  in  the  home  of  the  roman 
letter  (Jig.  100). 

Alessandro  Vellutello's  edition  of  Dante's  Commedm^ 
printed  by  F.  Marcolini  at  Venice  in  1544,  shows  the  Al- 

'  Students  of  Italian  printing  may  consult  the  Dante  collections  at  Harvard 
£ind  C'ornell  Universities,  wliich  furnish  a  great  number  of  editions  interest- 
ing for  purposes  of  comijarison. 


Orphei 


LIBER 

^r^Ncfc  per  imwcnrumTottim  hiiclibtum  undecimfquc  pattern  Orphei  gcrtiscarmfnibufqtic  ita  dica 
^^iiitpoet3:utabinrtinitonondJlc?dat:uar(arqiierraiirngiitationesex-ponic:nam  oiphcus  Aponmis: 
^i^^iiel  lit  alii  fmbunf.Ocagti  fliiuii  fiC  Calliopes  mufx  filiiis:fciciuia  ac  cantiis  fiiauitate  morrales  omnes 
'^'fldicitur  fuperaire.-cJcharatnque  ad  fimilicudinem  telludinis  a  Merciirio  confectamidoiioque  Afolliuf 
^datatn  a  patrc  accepifle:cuius  mcxlulatione  non  iiomines  folumifed  faas  filualque  ac  laxa  mota  fuif 

Ar  Js  enim  ut  fctibit  Dicdodtinx  dediciis  cu  theolosizoperam  impendiflet:iii  «gyptum  uaiifiir :  plurimaiuque 

ibl  rcnim  percrpta  fcicntia:Grzcomtn  doftifTu 

musjtum  in  deoriitn  cetimoniis:tum  in  theolo 

gia  rum  in  poemacis  cantiique  ell  habitus  ,nau( 

gaiiit  niipf r  cum  argonauris  obque  iixoris  amo 

rem  ad  inferos  cudcfcend(flet:a  Froferpina  fua 

uiratednisa'leaaimpetraiiitrut  defunfti  tuco 

rem  ab  inferis excirarct.nam  eurydicc  g  i  faiifto 

omine  fibi  copularat  dam  per  prata  fimul  cum 

aliisnymphis  uagaretur:a  feipeiite  petcufla  inte 

riit:tantoquedoIore  morfens  aifcdt  maritumt 

ut  non  fatis  ee  duxcrft  lugef  fed  ad  inferos  quo 

que  ad  earn  repetetendam  dcfcendere  nihil  du 

bitant.eo  igiturcum  penicnilTetrtaimim  carmi^ 

nis  fviaiiitate30'ecit:ut  uxofem  a  Plutonc  ea  acci 


Orphes 
ad  iferos 


Setpes  I 
laxum 

Ciconcs 


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Augu- 

ror. 
Auguro 


Ndc  per  imenfura  crocco  ac 
latus  amfdu 

Acthcra  di'grcditur  ciconam 
que  hymcnxus  ad  horas 
'Tcndit'.Si  orphea  ncquicqua 
uoceaocatur* 

il  Affuic  illcquidcra,  fed  ncc  fo 

lemnfa  uerba. 
....  ..  Ncclactosuultusmccfoelixattulic  omen; 

p<TCtcoiiditione:neillamprius:qad  fapetosre    j,  ^--^^^    'i     l  r    n  'j   i    C" 

licrfus ect  refpiceretifea  O^heus ucrit^ ne  uxor   Fax  quoc^  qua  tcnuit  lachrymolo  nndula  tuo 
fequerctur  cum  (am  fcread  fiipcros  penienlfler,    Vfque  fuitJnuUorquc  I'nuenit  motibus  fgncs. 

j;r£SS°u'bS?;";5^^^^  Eximsaufpiciograuiormamnupta  paheibas 

defperaret  fc item  eapotiriponcromnesafper  Dum  npua  tiaiadum  turba  COmitata  agatur     ■ 

natusmulieresdicitunprimufquedpudXhracef  r)'j:f  (_  falum  Crrnmu^  Hrntp rprcntn 

puerorum  amoribiis  ind.iIfiOe.id  uero  igre  fere  UCCiaiC  in  taium  IcrpcntiS  dentc  recepto. 

testhracizmuliCTesfaaaBacchi  celcbrantes il  Q  uam  fatlS  ad  lupas  poUqmodopCiUS  auraS 

lumcitharacanentemferalquernijcenta  diicet  D^ficuituatCS'.tienon  tcmprarct 6C  umbras. 
pferuntiauus  caput  una  cum  citharamHebrup         ,_  '     rt      r       i  r 

iedumrcum  Lei'buufqueperjjcmnet :  idque  ler  Ad  ftyga  tenana  elt  aufus  delccndcrc  porta; 

pens laniare uellet:in  fax«m  ab  Apolline  dicic'  p        ^^^,^5  popuIoSjGmracraq?  fu(fla  fcpulcliro 

fmfletranfformatusitTAdorasCiconum.Cico  _    T  ,        '^   ^,„  ,  ^  * 

iiespopuli  funrXhracixiuxta  Hebrum  nmiiii  Pcdcplioncn  adiit.inamataquc  rcgna  tencntcra 

habitantes.CTEt orphea uoce.adieaiuum  e-ot  Vmbraruni-dominurpulGfcKad  carmia  nemis 

phea.Vudeetiampcnultimamproducitquxa  t^,     ,  /-tl  '  j'  ^ 

grxcisFer.fi.fcribitur.  ©TSIequicqiiam  frunra.    5icaK:opolitilub  terra  numinamundi  1 

nequeenimfelicesillxnuptiaifiieruiit.  <rSed    Inquetn  dfcidfmus  quicquidmortalc  crcamut 

necfolemniauerba:qualiahxcenent:taiUlxfc     „,^,       -,  rin       c'         l.       l 
licefquehiGntnuptix.e-Vfqne:remp.<rRho    5l  llCCt:&  taltl  pofatlS  ambagibus  onS 

dopeais  uates  Orpheus  poeta  Thiacius  cuius   Vera  loqui  Gniti3!non  hue  uc  opcrta  ui'dcretn     ■ 

hymni  in plerofque  deorumetiam  m'l extant,    t-r  ^       j  r      J'  ^'    -ii    r        1    L  -  " 

FfhodopeautemmonsertThracixaltinimus.    Tartaradefccndirnecutiuillofa  colubns^ 
CTznariaporta.TxnarusLaconi.x  promoro  Terna  medufasi  umcirctti  guttura  monllrf. 

riumen:inquofpecasencdiciturper  quern  ad  y-      r      -„  rft  ronmny  in  itiT  nlrin  nrnrnnm 

inferos  defcenditur.C-Perque  leues  populos:cor  ^^Ula  UiXClt  COniunx  in  qua  caicaia  ucncnum 

poribuscarentes.€"Ferfephonem:Prorcrpinam  Vl'pcra  difiudi'ncrcfcenterquc  abftullt  annoS» 

C-Vmbranim  dominum  Plutonem  JTOppori  p^^-^  ^^^i  uoluuncc  rac  tcmptarTc  ncaabo. 

ti.Hac oratione  Orpheus  perluadere conat  nu  *   ,  ,    '  ,  f        1  '    1  * 

toni  atque  Ptoferpinx;ut  fibi  Euridicem  uxorc    Vici'c  amor  fupcra  dcus  hic  bene  notus  i  ora  e. 

iertituant:ac  per  aliquot  adhucanos  uiucf  apud    ^    Q^  5.  ^^^^  dubito:fcd  Si  hlC  tfi  auguror  cflc 
fiiperospeimittant.  C  Mnndi  pouti  lub  tena.  r  '  n  '  ' 

Penphrafit  ell  infesorum.  COpaca  tartara:ob    baraaque  11  uacns  non  clt  mcntita  rapinaci 

fcurartenebrofxelt enini tarrams inferon)  locus  VoS  quoqj  I'uxiC amonp  Cgo  hxtloca  pica tion'f 

rifundimmus.CrMedufximoltTi.cerbericanisl  v-,       ?         1        '  n      r\       >  ' 

fero?;  tricipiti»:g  ur  mcdiifa  ,p  capillii:itaf  pilis  Fcr.chaos  hoc  ingCHS  uaitiqp  Ulcntia  rcgnu 

colubros ac  fetpcres  habet.Merito at  k  exculat  Eurvdices  oro  properata  rcteXltC  fata. 

Orpheusineut  Hercules  rredat  ad  extrahctidu  /->.        >    i  \  \  .  ^ 

Ccrberuillucdefccdinc.CAuguror.coieao  8c    Omnia dcbcnturuobisipaulumquc  raorati 

figuiscolL'go.-augurorat  CC  auguiio  leadc  figiu 

ficatioc  diciiiS.C"  Vcteris  iapini,ni  pluto  ^lerpiiix  amore  captus  ca  rapiiit.CPer  chaos  hoc  igcs.CrPer  has  f  men 


99.  Page  of  Ovid:  Gorgonzola^  Milan^  1509  {reduced) 


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ITALIAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  161 

dine  manner  still  surviving.  The  book,  it  is  true,  is  printed 
in  two  sizes  of  italic,  the  larger  for  the  verse,  the  smaller 
for  the  notes ;  still  these  notes  surround  the  text  in  very  fif- 
teenth century  style  {Jig.  lOl).  Spaces  are,in  a  few  instances, 
left  for  painted  initials.  The  first  page  bears  a  title  in  large 
spaced  capitals,  but  otherwise  it  remains  pretty  faithful  to 
an  earlier  typographic  model.  The  illustrations  from  wood- 
blocks are  vivid  and  effective — and  famous.  In  this  edition 
the  rectification  of  an  omission  in  the  second  canto  of  the 
Pw'gatorw^  of  lines  64-66,  seems  to  have  been  made  by 
stamping  the  needed  matter  on  the  margin  with  a  wood- 
block. 

A  folio  edition  of  Paolo  Giovio's  Historiarum  sui  Temporis 
in  two  volumes,  printed  at  Florence  in  1550—52  by  Lorenzo 
Torrentino,  Ducal  Typographer  (to  Cosimo  de'  Medici),  is 
a  very  different  and  very  imposing  work.  Its  great  pages  of 
roman  types  are  splendid,  and  the  type-setting  (although 
not  so  solid  as  in  earlier  volumes)  is  still  careful.  We  notice, 
however,  that  the  dedication  to  Cosimo  de' Medici  is  printed 
in  larger  type  than  the  opening  address  or  the  text  of  the 
book  itself,  and  on  the  first  page,  too,  we  find  a  large  block 
initial.  The  title-page  is  arranged  in  six  sizes  of  roman  cap- 
itals combined  with  some  striking  lower-case  roman,  and 
also  italic,  letters.  The  composition  of  chapter  headings  in 
three  sizes  of  capitals,  with  a  woodcut  initial  below,  also 
shows  the  beginning  of  that  mixture  of  different  sizes  of 
letter  which  was  soon  to  end  in  typography  which  was  very 
debased  indeed  {Jig.  102).  The  prefatory  and  final  matter 
shows  the  beginnings  of  the  arrangement  of  a  book  as  we 
know  it  now — and  is  very  well  managed;  though  these 
were  the  parts  which  gave  opportunity  for  great  abuses  in 
the  unskilful  hands  into  which  printing  later  fell. 

That  famous  work  Giorgio  Vasari's  "Lives" — Le  Fife 


162  PRINTING  TYPES 

de'  piu  Eccellenti  Architetti^  Pitton,  et  Scidtori  Italiam  —  pub- 
lished at  Florence  in  1550,  is  also  very  well  printed  for 
this  period,  and  its  octavo  volumes  show  a  remarkably  good 
handling,  typographically,  of  rather  a  complicated  text,  in 
a  manner  perfectly  practical  and  readable  to-day.  In  this 
respect  it  is  very  modern  in  arrangement.  Chiefly  composed 
in  a  handsome,  solid,  roman  old  style  font,  each  notice  be- 
gins with  a  title  in  spaced  roman  capitals,  and  a  seven-line 
decorative  initial.  The  chapter  headings  of  the  opening  dis- 
courses on  Architecture,  Sculpture,  etc.,  appear  in  a  beau- 
tiful and  masculine  italic,  and  their  text  begins  with  plain 
but  distinguished  two-line  initials.  Poetry  is  set  in  italic,  and 
inscriptions  in  small  capitals,  spaced.  This  editio pjincepswdiS 
also  printed  by  Lorenzo  Torrentino  {fig.  103),  though  the 
revised  and  enlarged  work  on  which  subsequent  editions 
were  based,  was  printed  by  the  Giunti  and  issued  in  three 
volumes  in  1568. 

Some  Venetian  books  of  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury were  printed  entirely  in  an  interesting  form  of  italic, 
a  page  of  which  is  reproduced  {Jig.  104)  from  L.  Noga- 
rola's  Dialogus  qui  mscrihitur  Ti  mot  hens,  sive  de  A'i/o,  printed 
by  J.  Gryphius  for  Vincenzo  Valgrisi  at  Venice  iri  1552. 
Its  calligraphic  quality  is  remarkable,  and  it  is  also  inter- 
esting because  it  employs  italic  capitals,  and  shows  how 
far  t3'pe-founders  had  departed  from  the  Aldine  character. 
The  roman  type  used  in  the  introductory  address  is  neither 
better  nor  worse  than  most  current  old  style  roman  fonts. 

An  edition  of  Dante  with  notes  by  Landino  and  Vellu- 
tello,  edited  by  Sansovino,  issued  in  Venice  by  the  Sessas 
in  1564,  is  an  example  of  what  next  came  to  pass  in  Italian 
printing.  The  text  is  set  in  italic  surrounded  by  masses 
of  notes  in  roman  type.  The  beginning  of  the  book,  with 
its  miscellaneous  introductory  paraphernalia,  shows  all  the 


Canto    xvrir* 

Chi  m  ^  fouCn'n  M  mondo  antko^  Ynrnte  cyfieye^  chtMmlefda  iorydl 


lojiii  colu'ij  che  U  GhifoJa  hclh 
Coniujfi  a  far  la  uoglia  del  Marchcfe , 
Come  che  fuonl  U  fccnck.  nouetla » 

E  mn  pur  io  qui  pkngo  V>olcgnejc% 
Mtj  ne  quejlo  luogo  tmto  fieno  j 
Che  tame  Hn^ue  non  fin  hcra  ap^refi 

A  diccr'iSippa^  tra  Sauena  el  Rhenot 
E  f(  di  do  uuoi  fide  J  o  tepmonio; 
Recati  a  n:ente  il  noHro  auciro  f(no^ 

Co//  parlando ,  il  percojfi  un  demomo 
Vc  lafua  fiurktd ,  c  di\fi ;  V'nt 
Rupan 5  qui  mn  fin  fim'me  da  com  ♦• 


f f r  moglif .  come  c he  fuoni  Ufc^ncia 
mufUcfj  In  c^ud  ahn  moJo/rpuhlichi  H 
tal  cof(\  la  arrottec  fkma,  ferche  dUar.o^ 
che  ahum  diceuar.Oy  mn  (jpr  uero,  cht 
l^.ffflr  Veneluo  fiffcdi  tal  cofa  covfjef 
nole,  Efalfri,  che  nulla  ne  era  ff0^it6y 
ifufvga  chflMarchffc  Ihoufjfe  fitia^jfer 
(fltrir)ie'^,molt:>  fcllfcifarej  E  due  chf 
co^;^ii  credftie  Cflarfi  L-ffandol  ufi,  Terf 
the  neffun  uilio  e-fiu  degno  dfjjn  latui 
peyafQ,  dijpiacendo  non  fclayrifnte  a  huof 
ttij>na  e'  ancora  in  ahominafionf  a  yei . 


f  Non  fur  io  (juipianm  Bohpmfc,  Moi 
Jirache  mold  Bologneji^er  cuaritia  Ccna 
mauhiafi  ii  Hjutfrauilbj  lomefii  lui,  E  fanti  dice effirne in  <fuellno^o,  che iante  lingue  KOn 
fen  hoia  affrefc^  U:infcn  hora  a^fayeccliate,  A  dicty  Sifa,  A  d:yfi,fenhe  fifa  dicano  a  EohgVJl 
in  UiOgo  difi,  TRa  Sauena  jxume  cht  coyyepeffo  di  Bologna  da  la^arfe  di  V^ornaana^  EL  'kerA, 
medefmamenfe fiume,  che  coryefyejjo  ad  ejfa  cittd  da  laparfl'  di  Lomhaydix  (aln:ente,  che  Bob 
f  nrf",  ouefi  dice  Sifa,  men  adejfcy  tya luno^elaUy:^  di  ijuefli  duefiumi .  Qj4  mnfcn  FEmine  da 
conio,  cio  e-,  Fnnine  da  moneta  coniata  e  jiayrifata,  mediante  la^uale,  legifrynenfe  ft  coyron.jfe 
lapud'uifia  de  le  pynine,  er  infniti  nepno^liejpmfi,  Onde  Quid,  in  tjuel  de  ay/e,  Auyafuni 
uere  nunc  feculaf.uyimus^iiYa  Vemfy  honos,  auyo  conciHafuY  amor ,  Ft  a!troue,Muneyay  cyei 
ie  mihi^lacanf  hm'-msc^;  deiscjj .  Et  altyoue uncayn^  ^uyr.rr.aio  fi  diues  hayhrus  iHej^laaf . 


la  ml  rdggiunfi  con  la  fcorta  nim  t 
Vofiid  con  pochi  fcijji  d'luenimmo 
La  J  doue  un  fcoglio  de  la  ri^a  ufcia » 

.A(Jai  legjermente  quel  falimmo  j 
E  uolti  a  deflrafu  -per  lafua  fihe^gia, 
"Da  quelle  cerchie  eterne  ci  panimmo  ♦ 

Quando  noi  fummo  Ja^douei  uamggia 
n  fctto ,  per  dar  luogo  a  oTifirz.ati , 
Lo  duca  dijfi  ^  Attlenti^  c  fi  che-fig^a 

Lo  uifio  in  te  di  quefii  altri  mal  n^ti  j 
A  quail  anchor  non  uedeHi  lafaccia^ 
Tero  che  fion  con  nci  inficme  andati  ♦ 

T)al  uecchio  ponte  guardauam  la  traccia  | 
Che  uenia  uerfi  nci  da  Ultra  handa , 
E  M  lafirT^afmilmentefchiaccicP, 


TiiffYa,  il peta  YKojlro  che  Viy^.  hauea 
ttjjcnliti  chegli  foynajje  alcjuanto  a  dietro 
con  VenetiiO,  che  at  contyayio  di  lui  tyo'i. 
cedeuaper  la  holgia,  a  cio  che  lo  confieft 
f(  .   tactual  cofa  f^nifca,  che  la  yapoi 
ne  uuol chel  fnfc  hahhia  cognitice  de  par 
ticolayi  in  (juel  mi^I.oy  r^.odo  che ghe  con 
cedufo,  zfrhauutcla,  che  ritorni,  onde  di 
ce,  che  ft  yaggiunf  a  l  i,  che  era  la  faa 
fcorta,  e  che  foiconpochi  paffi  diueneya 
la^  doue  uw  fcoglio  di  tjuelli,  che  di  (ci 
fra  ha  detto,  che  infirma  dipon'iricidie 
ttoififfte gliayginiy  ll^ual  ifiiuafimi 
dalfiede  de  lalia  rifa,  o  uoglian-iOU  dit 
yoccia,  che  dogni  uoyno  cin^ei-alcerchio^ 
Jlcjualefoglio  dice,  cUffiflircn  pffailet 


^iomenfe,peycl.elafii(anjn  eyamolti 
*ffm,  E  mOYalmenfe,perche!uiHo,  che-in  cjuffapyima  hJ^iaft  punifcc,  effrJo  de  n-en  grata 
M  cerchio,  legiermenitfc  nepuo  haufy  la  eogniiione .  E  \oUi  a  defyafu  perlafuafheggia,  Se 
plmafcranolung^U  riua  uolti  afmiflya,  come  difcpya  ha  dim.ojlyato,  uoUndo  kyafipey  cjufio 
fioglio^  cht  hauianofdito,  aurauerfay  la  pyima  holgia  deffc  ceychio^  era  neujp.yio,  c}e  uol^fjJirOi, 

101.  Italic  in  Dante's  Commedia:  Marcolini^  Venice^  1544 


OO     rt      r<      rt 


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CL.  *-• 


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o 


ABATE   S.   CLEMENTE.  473 

in  San  Clemente  fiia  badja .  Et  tanto  fono  ftate  flima- 
tc  fempre  le  cofe  fue  in  detta  citta:ch  e  c^U  ne  ha  auu- 
to  quefto  epitaflfio. 

P'ln^ehat  doSie  Zeujls ;  condebat  ^  atdes 
Nicon-fPan  at^ripesfiJluU prima  tua efJ: 

Non  tamen  ex  mbi6  mecum  certauerit  uUa^ : 
^uce  tresfeaf^iSfUnicHshxcfacio. 

Mori  nel  M  c  c  c  c  L  x  i.  Agglunfe  all'arte  della  pitcu- 
ranellaminiatnraquella  bellczza  chefuornclla  ma- 
nieravecchia  se  viftopoineH'opredi  gierolamo 
PADOVANO  fatte  in  Santa  Maria  nuoua  di  Fioren- 
23  ne  libri  da  lui  miniati ,  Sc  in  qucgli  di  G  h  e  R  A  r- 
DO  MiNiATORE  fuo  creato , come  ancora fi  vidc 
pervn  vante  miniator  fiorentino,  dc 
GIEROLAMO  MILANESE,  chc  mzrabilifsime opre 
fccein  Milano  fua  patria. 


DOMENICO  GHIR 

LANDAIO    PITTORE 
FIORENTINO. 

__^  ^^i  Olte volte  fitruouano ,  ingcgni  elc- 
"*  ^  uati  Sc  fottili,  che  volenticri  fi  dareb 
bonoalle  arti&  allc  fcienze ,  &ec- 
cellentemente  le  ererciterebbono;fe 
i  Padri  loro  gli  indirizzaflero  neL 
principioa  quelle  ftefle  a lecjtiali  na 
turalmente  fbno  inclinati.Ma  fpeflb 
Quuiene  che  chi  gli  gouerna  non  conofcedo  forfe  piu 

00 


103,  Types  of  VasarVs  Vtte:  To?-rentino^  Florence,  1550 


rtcitat ,  udpotius  rcferentan  inducit  i^^gyptium, 
Tiec  illam  refvllit ,  eandcm  ttacj;  'Platoncmjecutuju's 
fpicari facile  poffimus,  FRi.^  Quotiammodo 
iftudconijcis  f  cum  dcjSfili  incrcmcnto  nullibi  Via 
to  Iccutus  jity  (Juin  potius  tcr  adjimmum  JSlili  memi 
nitjtiec  tamcn  affhrt  quippiajn^cluod  ad  hancjentcn/ 
tiam  attinere  uidcatur,  ^iiod  turn  maxtme  in  Tintceo 
dtbcbat  fictrc^cum  (jnandam  narraiiit  cf?e  i^egy/ 
ptirtgiomm  Delta  no^ninCjpropt  cuius  ucrticffcin 
ditur  MilusjiibiSaiticaJuntpaJcua,  TIM.  iJ^bu 
de  huic  rti  co  in  loco  fatpsfccit  Vlato,(luem  modo  re 
tulL  jSfam/iin  i^egypto  acquis  pluuijsnon  crefcunt 
jlumina,Jcd  illis.qui^  e  ttrrajcaturiunt ;  jSfilus  aute 
augefcit ;,  nee  uUamfiis  accolis  calamitatem  impor  / 
tatyC[uemadmodum  rdtcluiamnes  aliarum  prouincict 
rum,  lErgo  CT'  ipfejcaturientibus  a(juis  augcbitur^ 
FR.^.  lycrumcH.JcdtJludjCjuoddici^^  Socras 
tisperfonanon  agit  Vlato,  ucrum  Solonis^quijctctr 
dotis  ^^eqyptijjcrmontm  reccnjet.  TIM,  p^dc 
^p  minim e Jim  pcrtinax  in  dijputando.  Do  tibiiflud^ 
hancnon  ejjc  Vlatonis  fcnttntiavt.  ^t  habtboJuL 
tojt  banc  candtm  i^egyptij's  adfcribendam,  quibus 
ctiam  cii  melius fiajcirt^cjuam  alios  uerifimilefity  ma 
gisejjecredendiiexiflimauerim,  FR.  ^.  C^aflue 
TO  dejint,  (jiiifcnbat  t^egyptios  de  hac  re  aliterjen 

104.  Italic  used  in  Nogai-ola''s  Dialogus 
Gryphius^  Venice^  1552 


ITALIAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  163 

"prefatory  confusion"  of  Italian  editing  and  printing  in 
the  last  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Initials  are  introduced 
(sometimes  "block"  and  sometimes  "free")  both  in  text  and 
notes,  so  that  the  eye  is  constantly  distracted  by  spots  in 
unexpected  places.  In  spite  of  remarkable  woodcuts  re- 
printed from  earlier  editions,  the  book  is  discouraging  to 
the  reader  through  the  typographical  mismanagement  of 
its  text,  which  is  overpowered  by  the  notes  {Jig.  105).  The 
title-page  is  execrable — turgid  and  vulgar. 

What  Italian  printers,  who  could  copy  great  pieces  of 
printing,  did  when  left  more  to  themselves,  is  shown  in  a 
Florence  Decamerone  of  1573,  brought  out  by  the  Giunti. 
This  is  still  printed  wholly  in  italic  like  earlier  editions — 
or  at  least  its  text  is — but — and  it  is  such  a  big  Bur — 
the  title-page  is  set  in  capitals  of  three  sizes,  capitals  and 
small  capitals  of  three  sizes,  lower-case  roman  of  two  sizes, 
and  to  this  are  added  two  sizes  of  italic,  and  a  woodcut  of 
Boccaccio!  The  publisher's  preface  follows  in  a  large  and 
very  handsome  spirited  itaHc, — notice  the  double  z's  and 
the  &'s, — and  then  follow  four  "licenses,"  set  respectively  in 
three  sizes  of  roman  and  one  of  italic  type.  Nor  is  this  all. 
There  is  a  list  of  the  stories,  an  address  to  the  reader,  these 
set  in  italic ;  and  then  comes  the  proem  in  roman.  And  after 
all  this  interminable  muddle  of  types,  we  arrive  at  the  First 
Day.  Furthermore,  a  good  deal  of  "displayed  matter"  in 
various  sizes  of  roman  and  italic  characters  is  used  to  start 
these  latter  divisions,  and  ornamental  initials,  large  and 
small,  begin  each  of  them.  In  the  Decamerone  type  orna- 
ments head  each  Day,  which  begins  with  an  eleven-line 
initial  {jig.  106).  Now  without  counting  the  annotations  at 
the  end, — which  form  a  little  book  by  themselves,  —  we 
have  an  object  lesson  in  the  decay  of  Italian  composition, 
and  we  can  see  just  how  it  declined  and  from  what  it  de- 


164  PRINTING  TYPES 

dined.  This  edition  ^\•as  published,  corrected,  and  emended 
according  to  the  regulations  of  the  Holy  Council  of  Trent, 
and  when  a  Pope,  a  King,  a  Grand  Duke  and  a  Duke  less 
grand,  and  the  Inquisition  too,  say  an  edition  of  Boccaccio 
is  "purged" — well,  it  ought  to  be!^ 

Such  loosely  constructed  little  volumes  as  Bocchi's  Sym- 
bolicanim  Qiixstionum,  issued  at  Bologna  in  1574  with  cop- 
per-plates by  Bonasone  of  Bologna,  a  pupil  of  Raimondi; 
or  Nannini's  Coiisklej'atiojii  Civiii  on  Guicciardini's  Isforia, 
published  in  Venice  in  1582  (a  \ery  congested  piece  of 
work),  also  show  how  tasteless  a  book  printed  in  italic  had 
become  when  compared  with  similar  early  Italian  books 
{Jig.  107).  The  italic  capitals  introduced  in  these  later  editions 
with  italic  lower-case  by  no  means  helped  their  effect, 
though  those  used  in  the  Bocchi,  as  well  as  the  lower-case 
italic,  are  interesting,  lively  letter-forms.  Thus  while  the 
type  effects  in  Italian  books  of  the  sixteenth  century — for 
its  first  fifty  years — retained  more  or  less  the  manner  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  even  the  best  of  them  showed  a  decline  by 
their  mixture  of  varying  sizes  of  type.  These  tendencies 
became  more  marked  as  the  century  "went  on — partly  be- 
cause the  actual  literary  arrangement  had  become  much 
more  complicated,  and  also  because  printers  did  not  know 
(and  it  was  difficult  to  know )  how  to  manage  a  superabun- 
dance of  new^  literary  features  and  still  maintain  the  former 
severity  of  stjde.  They  took  refuge,  as  second-rate  typog- 
raphers have  always  done,  in  using  more  sizes  and  kinds 
of  type.  This,  together  with  a  lack  of  the  restraining  in- 
fluence of  older  models,  made  books  less  simple  and  there- 
fore less  sfood. 


*  llie  "purgation  "  did  not  concern  itself  with  tlie  freedom  of  the  stories,  but 
chiefly  consisted  in  transforming  the  clerg}'^  figuring  in  tliem  to  lay  persons ! 


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c  ,«.!=:   <u  rj  IT 
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PRIMAGIORNATA  DEL 
Decameron, 

r^ELLA  OVALE  DOPO  LA  DIMOSTRA- 

tionefattada.ll'avtore,    perch fi 

cagioneairucniffedidoucifi  quelle perfoncjchc 

apprelTo  Ci  moflrano,ragunarea  ragionarp 

in{ieme,rotto  il  reggimeto  di  Pampi- 

nca  fi  ragiona  di  queIlo,che  pill 

aggrada  a  ciafcheduno.. 


FANTVNiQVE  Folte GMtloftjJim^ 
Donne  meco  penfando  r'lguardo  quM- 
to  vo'i  7iaturalmente  tutte fiete pietO" 
fe,  tante  conofio,  che  U  pre  fen  te  opera, 
al  yoHro  ludic'io  hauragraucy  &  no- 
iofo  prlncipioyfi  come  e  la.  dolorofa  ri- 
cordatlone  delta  peHifera  mortaliu 
trapaffatayVn'merfdlmente  a  ciafcuno, 
che  quella  vidcyO  ahraincnti  conobbe, 
dannofdy  la  qude  ejja  porta  nella  fiu 
fronte.  Ma  non  voglloperciOychc  que 
f?o  dl  p'lu  auant'i  leggere  r'l  Jpancntiyquafi  fempre  trajojpmy&tra  is 
lagrime  leggendo  dobbiate  trapajjare.  QueUo  borrido  commc'iamcn- 
tovifiation  altramentiy  che  a'  cammmantl  yna  montagna  ajpray(^ 
ertaypreffo  alia  quale  vn  belliljlmo  piano  y&  d'lletteuok  ft  a  rlpoJio;il' 
quale tanto p'lu  vkfie  lor piaceuoleyqnanto  m.tggiore  e  flata  del  fall- 
YCy  &  dellofmontare  la  graue'X^ .  Et  ft  come  la  cHremhd  della  alle- 
gn':^  il  dolore  occupa ,  coft  le  mifer'ic  dafopra^tegnente  Ict'itia  fona 

a       terminate* 


106.  Page  from  Decamerone:  Giunta^  Florence^  1573 


CONSIDERATION! 

C     I     V     I     L     I 

S  O  F  R  A   L  H  I  S  TO  R  I  E 

di  M.  Francejco  Guicciardinii  ^ 
d^altn  HtUonci^ 

Tractate  per  modo  di  Difcorfb  da  M. 
Rcmi^io  Fiorentino  • 

Ch'il  negar  con  efficacia  di  far  una  coHi  die  tu 

faccia,mcttc  il  cerucllo  a  partito  a  chi  crede 

il  contrario .  Confidcratione  Prima. 

r^O  LORO  chefi  met  torn  afar  quaU 
^Ji|^^^  j  che  imprefi ,  &  hanno  dejiderio  per 
i/- .^  V  i.  qualcheior  dlfcgno^ch'ellanonfifap- 
pia)  a^/^  'vorrebbonpure  cheji  credef 
[M  fi  ilcontrario^per  condurla  meglio^df* 
per  tenere  addormentate  le  perfone^ 
contra  lequali  tentano  di  fare  que lU 
imprefa-^non  hanno  mtglior  modoy  che 
Umrando  ( come fi  dice )fott'acqua,ncgar  manifeUamente» 
^  con  molt  a  efficacia  di  far  quel  che  fanno  •  &  laragionee 
quelia ,  per  che  nonpotendo  efer  conuinti  n  e  riprouati  con  st 
manifeliiindt'^if^che  nonftpofmojcufare , ))  coprire  ,o  inter- 
"pretare  altrtmenti  di  quel  che fono  :  d^non  baftando  ancora 
ilcreder  che  fa  cos)  ,per  conuincerli ,  efor"^  che  I'animo  di 
chi  ha  qualchcfofpctto  di  lorOiirder/do  quellagagliarda  &  ef 
ficace  negation  e  resit  ambiguo,&  glifmetta  il  cerucllo  a  par 
fitOj&  ehegl'indiz-ij  &  la  creden^  ch'egli  ha  delcomrartQ 

A  rson 

107.  Italic  in  NanmnVs  Const derationi  Civili^  Venice^  1582 


ITALIAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  165 

§2 
In  the  seventeenth  century,  the  type,  and  still  more  the 
composition  and  presswork  of  Italian  books,  often  became 
a  very  fearful  thing!  Take,  for  instance,  a  small  folio  Tasso 
—  Gerusalejiime  Liberata  —  printed  by  Giuseppe  Pavoni  at 
Genoa  in  1617.  In  this  very  badly  planned  volume,  the  poem 
is  set  entirely  in  a  nervous  old  style  italic  printed  in  double 
column ;  but  poorly  designed  italic  in  larger  sizes  is  util- 
ized for  its  prefatory  matter,  which  is  most  confused  in  ar- 
rangement. Each  canto  starts  with  overloaded,  tasteless 
headings  and  ornaments,  and,  as  if  this  were  not  enough,  is 
burdened  by  a  block-letter  initial.  Opposite  each  canto  a 
full-page  copper-plate  illustration  is  introduced.  The  dedi- 
cation and  title-page  are  also  engraved.  These  copper-plate 
title-pages  were  common  in  Europe  during  the  seventeenth 
century,  and,  as  before  suggested,  had  a  wretched  effect 
on  printing.  It  was  the  short  and  easy  method  of  making 
a  book  beautiful.  And  as  they  were  generally  over-elabo- 
rate in  design,  they  made  the  slovenly  typography  all  the 
more  ridiculous.  Furthermore,  as  Walter  Crane  writes,^ 
"while  the  surface-printed  block,  whether  woodcut  or 
metal  engraving  (by  which  method  many  of  the  early  book 
illustrations  were  rendered),  accorded  well  with  the  condi- 
tions of  the  letter-press  printing,  as  they  were  set  up  with 
the  type  and  printed  by  the  same  pressure  in  the  same 
press,  with  copper-plate  quite  other  conditions  came  in,  as 
the  paper  has  to  be  pressed  into  the  etched  or  engraved  lines 
of  the  plate,  instead  of  being  impressed  by  the  lines  in  re- 
lief of  the  wood  or  the  metal.  Thus,  with  the  use  of  copper- 
plate illustrations  in  printed  books,  that  mechanical  relation 
which  exists  between  a  surface-printed  block  and  the  letter- 

'  Decorative  Illustration  of  Books,  p.  116. 


166  PRINTING  TYPES 

press  was  at  once  broken,  as  a  different  method  of  printing 
had  to  be  used."  Although  the  first  book  decorated  with 
copper-plates  was  printed  as  early  as  1477,  they  did  not 
come  into  general  use  before  the  middle  or  end  of  the  six- 
teenth century. 

Here  and  there  a  fine  seventeenth  century  book  appears, 
like  Morosini's  Histona  Veneta — an  imposing  folio  of  seven 
hundred  pages,  reminiscent  in  style  of  the  early  sixteenth 
century.  The  types  are,  in  general  effect,  handsome — that 
of  the  preface  being  an  irregular  old  style  of  coarse  cut, 
while  the  text  is  set  in  a  somewhat  thin  roman  letter.  As 
here  employed  they  make  massive  pages,  very  solidly  and 
well  set  {Jig.  108).  Notes  in  small  italic  appear  in  the  mar- 
gin. Running-titles  are  arranged  in  a  large,  old  style  lower- 
case letter.  The  engraved  title-page  and  overloaded  head- 
pieces which,  with  several  sizes  of  roman  capitals,  begin 
each  Book,  are  very  much  "of  the  period."  This  volume  was 
printed  by  Antonio  Pinelli,  "Ducal  Printer,"  at  Venice  in 
1623. 

Another  seventeenth  century  work,  on  navigation,  etc., 
which  is  a  fine  piece  of  typography  and  a  still  more  won- 
derful piece  of  book-making,  is  DeW  A?'catw  del  Mare  di  D. 
Roberto  Dudleo — that  romantic  figure  Robert  Dudley,  son 
of  Elizabeth's  favourite,  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester.  These 
enormous  folios  were  printed  at  Florence,  A\here  Dudley 
then  lived,  in  three  volumes,  in  1646  and  1647,  and  dedi- 
cated to  Ferdinand  II,  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany.  Thetj'po- 
graphical  decorations  are  ingenious  and  the  typography 
most  effective,  the  engraved  plates  magnificent;  and,  as  a 
\\hole,  it  is  a  superb  production,  showing  great  vigour  of 
conception  and  style  in  execution. 

For  late  sixteenth  century  and  early  seventeenth  century 
types  we  have  a  valuable  source-book  in  the  1628  specimen 


f5s.    b!    S  "^  -y    S  'rt  -r    «J    3    §    !>    flj    7i    rt    =5  .i2    55 -^    «    g 

3    rt    ii    G     r>      ♦^   ■-*  .tf  flj    flj  .JD    ^  .r^  O    P  <S^    ^  _C  iJj    ^ 
>^S!=3'S^^^    O-P  -2    g    3    [2    2  ,^>    rt    rt    rt  H 

s.s^g  i^.a-1  ^^  3  s  ii  s's^^  ^  i  §  s 

««i!  Ctrl  Z^ -3    O '13    p    o 'p     ,^r3 -3    o   ri    3    c!    c    E    S 
2  ^i:i    rt    QH.S    rti-(jjOJ.i2g'^rtrt-y><-»8j'3 


o 

^    P  ^ M  ^-^  2"^  ti  B  ^  ^  ^'-^^  ^ 

§-3  o  ^  s?g"p-g  y^.^"^ 

'^  a  ^  Ti  '7^  *^  ^  ^  >.II*-'t^  h  ^  ^  .n  "^i 

^  ■>   I  -^  C   ^O  !_:       ^^       2r    ■  '^      "-*    TT  C    .  ^    •  •-<      QJ      i_i      *-< 


M-rtcS^-H   I-Ei3    5:;   3-R   F.-r^   ^    0-3    =-C3   £   ^        ^ 


o  "^v3  '*:^ci.^«bi3§^cSnuOf4;z;s=;H2H 


vJ     ^  ^-iH   '-»-i     LJu     nr*  3     XGCjJ-iO'w'SJ'nr-'Qj--' 

5"SofiC!tirtrt5*-'rtCt;?5gl-^gj^3*_,.r) 


o 


-  f—     J:     '!^  • —•     o     G    *-j  .wi    f-"     E^    C     t:  ^    ?-?    •-{  "n!  •— H     rt  "-^ 

r^    ;S  "^  S  ^  p'^'i.S  B-=^  ^'3.S  SrJ  c'^-^^.S 
^    ^  c/5  s-*  o^  G  3  n  .id  T!   .*^  cj  u  r:!  i?  S  ^  ^  G  — ^. 


^ 


-a  S  ^'^  S'2  i  g^|-G  l-g^  a:g-g  -  s  g  ^-g^    1^ 

G       '-^c:2G>'-*^l>TiGGc-^-P"G3i-'Gi2^ 


ITALIAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  167 

of  the  Stamperia  Vaticana  and  Camerale,  founded  at  Rome 
in  1587.^  It  is  entitled  Indice  de  Carattei\  con  Plnventori^  &f 
nomi  di  essi^  esistenti  nella  Stampa  Vaticana^  y  Came?rde,  is- 
sued at  Rome  and  dedicated  to  Francesco,  Cardinal  Barbe- 
rini,  whose  symbolic  bees  figure  on  the  title-page,  beneath 
an  enormous  red  cardinal's  hat.  The  dedicatory  epistle  is 
printed  in  a  fine  old  style  roman  font,  and  the  address  ^l 
Lettore  (in  which  Brogiotti  says  that  he  has  been  the  chief 
agent  in  collecting  and  renovating  these  fonts)  is  set  in  an 
itahc  which  has  a  few  striking  characters — the  z  and  final 
e,  for  example  i^jig.  109).  Then  follows  a  collection  of  exotic 
types  with  astonishing  attributions — in  which  Adam  is 
called  the  first  inventor  of  science  and  letters;  Moses  is 
made  to  father  the  Hebrew  alphabet ;  Abraham  obligingly 
devises  letters  for  the  Syrians  and  Chaldeans;  Esdras  is 
found  improving  the  Hebrew  alphabet ;  and  Phoenix  gives 
letters  to  the  Phoenicians!  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Cyril  also 
had  a  hand  in  alphabet-making ;  and  Pythagoras  added  to 
the  joy  of  life  by  presenting  the  world  with  a  Y.  There  are 
a  good  many  more  curious  inscriptions.  The  serious  part  of 
the  work  begins  on  leaf  27,  where  some  heavy  roman  capi- 
tals of  the  oldest  form  of  old  style  are  shown.  The  character 
called  canon  grosso  {Jig.  1  lO)  is  a  fine  letter,  with  exceed- 
ingly long  ascenders  and  descenders,  resembling  types  cut 
by  Garamond  and  some  roman  types  used  in  Spain.  This 
is  followed  by  descending  sizes  of  fine  old  style  fonts — 
such  as  the  ascendonica  {Jig.  111).  The  italic  corsivo  grosso 
{Jig.  112)  is  an  interesting  and  varied  character,  full  of 
movement  and  style,  and  was  probably  cut  by  Robert  Gran- 
jon  for  this  printing-house,  and  may  be  the  font  which  the 
Pope  of  that  day  desired  to  restrict  to  its  private  use.  In 
this  corsivOy  the  lower-case  z's  and  the  final  e's,  the  double  s 

A  further  account  of  it  is  given  on  a  later  page. 


168  PRINTING  TYPES 

and  the  "swash"  C  and  D,  are  to  be  looked  at.  The  smaller 
sizes  of  roman,  and  especially  the  italic  —  varied  by  series  of 
capital  letters  for  titles,  etc.  {Jig.  113) — show  a  fine,  even 
collection  of  old  style  fonts  of  which  any  printing-house 
might  be  proud.  Specimens  of  Hebrew,  of  some  distin- 
guished Greek  capitals  [Jig.  114)  and  Greek  lower-case 
(which  accord  very  nicely  with  the  roman  fonts),  and  four 
extraordinarily  interesting  specimens  of  plain-song  music 
types,  marked  Ex  Bibliotheca  Faticana  {Jigs.  115  arid  116), 
follow,  and  the  book  closes  with  t^vo  sizes  of  a  large  old 
style  letter,  used  no  doubt  with  music  or  for  the  Canon  of 
the  Mass  {Jig.  117).  Restricted  to  such  fine,  severe  types, 
it  ^vouId  be  difficult  to  go  ^\Tong.  The  hulice  is  among  the 
most  interesting  "specimens"  in  the  history  of  printing, 
and  show  s  the  material  of  a  seventeenth  century  Italian 
printing-office  at  its  simplest  and  best. 

When  poorer  types  were  poorly  used  at  this  epoch,  we 
have  such  wretched  litde  affairs  as  La  Clori,  a  pastoral 
tragi-comedy,  by  Camillo  Lenzoni,  issued  at  Florence  by 
Z.  Pignoni  in  1626  (^^.  118).  Its  text  is  set  entirely  in 
italic,  but  in  different  sizes  and  with  some  roman  head-lines. 
Furthermore,  its  prefatory  matter  is  adorned  with  badly 
printed  typographical  ornaments,  which  add  to  its  woeful 
appearance.  The  size  of  italic  used  for  the  text,  and  the 
roman  capitals  used  in  running  head-lines,  are  too  large  for 
the  page  —  a  common  fault  in  Italian  printing  as  the  seven- 
teenth century  went  on.  In  a  similar,  loosely  built  volume  of 
the  period  —  Alessandro  Adimari's  La  Clio,  Florence,  1639 
— the  publishers,  Massi  and  Landi,  lazily  observe:  "Errors 
in  printing  are  confided  to  the  discretion  of  the  kind  and 
careful  reader"  —  so  it  appears  that  the  scholarly  part  of 
such  books  was  not  looked  after  any  better  than  was  their 
typography ! 


Al  Lettorc^. 

O  ho  femprc  Jliwato  aito  de^ 
gno  di  biafmo ,  iltener  na- 
fcojle  caudle  cofe ,  che  'vtill  e 
dikmuoli  inficme  ejfer  pof. 
fono  con  U  ptblkationL^  . 
quesia  cagione  mi  ha.  mojfo  a 
dar  in  luce ,  o  fm  toYfo  a 
fir  moJira  a  gl*  occhi  dtrui  dc  Caratteri  della 
Stampa  Vaticana ,  da  me  in  gran  parte  accrejciuti 
e  rinouati-iper  commun  henefitiot  e  di  chi  partico- 
Urmentc  e  folito  diricorrer  per  limprefione  deir 
Opere^  aW  aiuto  delle  Br&mere  'Natiom  \  Bt  que  ft  i 
fi  puo  godere  U  belleX^d  ,  accompagnata  alia  varie- 
ta  che  maggiormemedse  Jlirriarft  ,per  hatierdato 
I'efempio  ,  e  U  norma  alValtre  pih  celebri  Stampe. 
rie ;  E  per  che  non  ft  hauejje  ntl  dtletto  a  defiderar 
qualche parte  di  vtile,  ho  voluto  che gli  rredefimi 
Caratteri ,  tlluHrati  con  la  cogmtione  dell  ^antichi- 
ta  i  porttno  fcolpiti  nella  fronte  t  Nomi  di  color o  ^ 
che  ne  furono  gl'inuentori ,  Bejla  che  gt  Huomini 
Letter ati  fpettalrnente ,  alnome  de  quali  e  rijerba- 
tA  per  me%z,o  delle  Stampe  C imniortalttk ,  honor an- 
dogh  delle  lor  fatiche ,  mt  diario  occafione  di  potere 
con  git  effetti  mojlrar  i/erfo  di  loro  ptif  ccrto  fe- 
gno  della  mi  a  oJferuanT^ . 


11  Ij 


109.  Address  to  the  Reader:  Stamperia  Vaticana  Specimen 
Rome,  1628 


■^  Carattere  detto  Canon  groiTo  28 


In  nomine  Patris  ,  & 

Filij,&  Spiritus  fandi. 

Amen_^. 

Benedifta  fit 
fanda&indiui- 
dua  Trinitas  , 
nunCj&femper 
&  per  infimta 
feculorufecula. 

Aue  Maria. 

G     iiij 


110.  Canon  Grosso:  Stamperia  Vaticana  Specimen 
Rome,  1628 


-^  Carattere  detto  Afcendonica  3 1 


quat  h  nelU  Stamp  a  Vatic  ana.  . 


Te  Dcum  laudamus  ; 
te  Dominum  cofitemur . 
Te  aeternum  Patrc :  om- 
nis  terra  veneratur .  Tibi 
omnes  Angeli ;  tibi  caeli, 
&  vniuerfae  poteftates . 
Tibi  Cherubim  &  Sera- 
phim ;  incellabiH  voce 
proclamant^.  Sandtusy 
Sandus,San6tus ;  Domi- 
nus  Deus  fabaoth .  Pleni 
funt  cseh,  &  terra :  maie- 
ftatis  glorias  tuae .  Te  glo- 
riofiis  Apoftoloru  cho- 
rus .  Te  Prophetaru  lau- 
dabilis  Humerus  .Te  mar 


H    iij 


111.  Ascendonica :  Stamperia  Vaticana  Specimen 
Rome,  1628 


CARATTERE 

decto  Corfiuo  groflo . 

Chee  nella  STAMP A'VaTICANLA^ 


Ocarfopragli  Abip  ifondamenti 
Detampa  T'erra.e  com'unpcciohelo 
VAriaJpiegar  con  te  tue  mani,  e*l  Cielo^ 
£  le  Stelle  formar  chiare  ^e  lucenti. 

Tor  legge  a  t  J^lari^  a  le  tempeHcja  i  "venti , 
Lhumido  njnir  co  HJuo  contrario ,  e  7  gdo 
Con  mjinita  fromdenH^ ,  e  X^loy 
E  crear  ^  e  nodrir  Mti  i  'v'menti . 

Signorfu  poco  a  la  tua  gran  pojfanla  : 
I^a  che  tu  DiOy  tu  Creator  voleJ?i 
Najier  hHom\  e  morir  per  chi  toffefLj. 

[otunto  I'opra  de  fei  grorm  auanta^ 

Q)  to  no  7  so  dir ,  no  /'  fan  gli  Angtoliflefi^ 
^icalo  il  Verbo  tuo ,  che  fol^  l*  intefc^ . 


11 


112.  Corsivo  Grosso:  Stamperia  Vaticana  Specimen^  Rome^  1628 


s 

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ATT  O   PRIM  O 

SCENA  PRIMA. 

«ft^S«»  «»^S^  ««>^S«" 

Teandro.  Tirinto. 

Tea.  T^  BH  mira  o  mio  Tirinto^ 

JL/  V adombratojpkndoni  apena  in  Ckh 
V Alba  nunzia  del  gtorno 
Scots  rail  del  fonno,  e  i  'uentkeUi 
t^Ussaggteri  di  lei  fpiegano  a  pena 
Ira.  i^entiefi  de  i  fior  le  frefche  piume^ 

Tir.     Uolce  conforto  e  il  preuenir  I' Aurora  , 
Che  noiofa  e  la  nottCy 
A  chi  graue  penjier  la  merit e  adombra  i 
O  che  Jpietato,  o  che  dolore  eterno, 
nJMentre  I' aura  godro,fido  Tsandr$ 
M'apporterk  dolente 
Delia  notte  I'orrore :  o  me  infelicc  » 
Forza  e  pur  ch'to'l  rimembri ; 
Notte  crude  I  che  or  empie  il  terzo  Lujlre^ 
Che  a  me  ralma  raptro  onde  fpietate  ^ 
Che  dico  I'alwa  mia  /  quel  che  piii  caro 
MUra  aj^ai  piu,fanQiullo  auuolto  tnfasciei 

118.  Page  from  La  Chri:  Pignoni^  Florence^  1626 


ITALIAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  169 

The  edition  of  Vittorio  Zonca's  Novo  Teatro  di  Machine 
et  Edificii,  published  by  F.  Bertelli  at  Padua  in  1656,  well 
known  for  its  interesting  plates/  is  extraordinarily  careless 
in  execution,  though  simple  in  composition.  Here,  rough 
old  style  fonts,  closely  set  and  very,  very  badly  printed,  are 
used.  For  so  ambitious  a  folio  and  such  careful  illustra- 
tions, its  technique  is  inconceivably  slovenly;  yet  this  book 
had  already  gone  through  three  editions.  Another  work  of 
a  more  scientific  character  was  the  second  edition  of  Maga- 
lotti's  Saggi  di  Naturali  Esperienze  fatte  nelV  Accademia  del 
Cimento^  Florence,  a  folio  printed  at  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  (l69l),  and  a  fine  example  of  its  kind.  The 
type  shows  a  distinctly  modern  note  {Jig.  119).  As  for  dec- 
oration, effective  initials  and  tail-pieces  coarsely  engraved 
on  wood  are  mixed  with  a  series  of  grotesque  headings  and 
scientific  plates  cut  on  copper.  It  was  really  an  important 
book,  and  was  also  intended  to  be  a  handsome  piece  of 
typography.  It  came  from  the  Florentine  printing-house  of 
Giovanni  Filippo  Cecchi. 

By  this  time  an  entire  change  in  Italian  book-making  is 
evident.  The  elements  of  the  old  fifteenth  century  volumes 
have  almost  wholly  disappeared,  and  the  pretentious,  over- 
laden styles  of  the  seventeenth  century  are  in  full  swing. 
Neither  very  careful  in  detail  nor  delicate  in  execution, 
these  more  elaborate  volumes  of  the  seventeenth  and  early 
eighteenth  century  became  like  stage  properties;  the  folios 
seemed  as  if  they  were  meant  to  "carry  across  the  foot- 
lights." Just  as,  in  a  sober  Italian  palace  of  the  Renaissance, 
the  earliest  Italian  books  looked  their  part,  so  these  big 
folios  seemed  to  be  at  home  in  the  tormented  architecture 
of  Bibiena,  or  amid  the  audacious  magnificences  of  Ber- 

Those  at  pages  64  and  77  represent  presses  for  printing  books  and  engrav- 
ings. 


170  PRINTING  TYPES 

nini.  The  true  grand  manner  of  Italian  printing,  like  much 
else  in  Italy  at  that  time,  had  turned  into  the  false  grand 
manner  in  which  everything  was  exaggerated.  And  as 
typography  reflected  the  state  of  the  Fine  Arts,  we  have  the 
pompous  seventeenth  century  folios  of  the  Italian  press. 
Books  began  with  Thrones,  Principalities,  and  Powers,  dis- 
played and  praised  in  types  and  terms  equally  grandiose. 
In  great  Italian  houses  of  that  period,  filled  with  gigantic 
furniture,  pictures,  and  folios,  the  only  object  that  must 
have  appeared  inadequate  in  scale  was  Man! 

This  overblown  effect  was  true  of  the  details  of  types. 
The  late  Italian  italic,  for  instance,  developed  into  a  much 
more  generous,  opulent,  and  careless  sort  of  letter  than  the 
demure  little  character  introduced  by  Aldus.  It  had  an  ex- 
uberant "kick"  about  it  that  belonged  very  much  to  the 
art  of  the  day.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  italic  letter,  used 
through  the  sixteenth  and  sometimes  in  the  seventeenth 
century  for  the  text  of  entire  books,  began  to  be  employed 
for  preliminary  matter  only,  or  for  poetry. 

Roman  types  also  were  coarse  in  form.  They,  like  the 
italic,  were  what  we  should  now  call  "old  style."  They  were 
often  disagreeable  in  effect  because,  as  we  have  seen,  sizes 
too  large  for  a  page  were  employed;  and  this,  and  poor, 
rough  paper,  made  these  roman  characters  look  coarser 
than  they  were,  though  the  simple  capitals  were  often  good 
letters.  Still,  such  type  had  "a  way  with  it."  As  to  composi- 
tion, it  was  a  little  rakish,  too — nothing  was  very  correct. 
Yet  it  was  almost  forgivable  because  taking  its  place  so  well 
in  the  picture. 

§3 
In  an  eighteenth  century  edition  of  Tasso's  Gerusalemme 
Liberata^  edited  by  Gentili  and  Gustavini,  and  printed  at 
Urbino  in  1735  (at  the  Stamperia  della  Cappilla  del  SS. 


N 


^ 


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ITALIAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  171 

Sacramento,  a  famous  eighteenth  century  office  which  still 
survives),  we  have  much  less  excellent  type,  but  the  poetry 
is  printed  in  roman  instead  of  italic.  There  are,  happily,  no 
decorations  except  the  inevitable  copper-plates,  which  in  this 
case  are  even  relied  on  for  initial  letters.  The  title-page  is 
printed  in  red  and  black,  in  all  sorts  of  sizes  of  italic  capi- 
tals and  lower-case  characters  ;  the  prefatory  matter  is  ex- 
aggerated in  composition ;  the  final  notes  are  unattractive. 
The  edition  is  interesting  only  in  comparison  with  a  Tasso 
already  referred  to.  ^ 

A  curious  piece  of  Italian  typography,  very  characteristic 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  is  an  edition  of  Virgil  {P.  Fergilii 
Maronis^  Codex  Antiguissimus,  A  Rufio  Turcio  Aproniano 
V.  C.  Distinctus  et  Emendatus  .  .  .  Florentise.  Typis  Manni- 
anis)^  published  in  1741  at  Florence,  and  printed  by  Joseph 
Manni,  a  person  of  scholarly  tastes.  It  is  set  entirely  in  old 
style  capitals  with  a  few  characters  imitating  those  of  an 
ancient  and  famous  manuscript  Virgil  in  rustic  characters, 
in  the  Laurentian  Library,  Florence.  The  preface  exhibits 
a  fairly  accurate  engraved  reproduction  of  a  few  lines  of  the 
model  on  which  the  book  was  based,  and  in  the  text  the  in- 
genious introduction  of  but  three  specially  cut  letters  gives 
the  general  effect  of  a  font  of  "rustic  "  type  {Jig.  120).  Thus 
the  work  displays  that  amazing  audacity  in  arriving  at  a 
striking  effect,  notwithstanding  inaccurate  details  and  econ- 
omy of  method,  which  was  typical  of  Italian  printing  at 
that  time.  Issued  at  a  place  and  period  which  appears  un- 
favourable to  such  a  venture,  and  dedicated  to  Lovers  of  the 
Fine  Arts,  it  also  indicates  there  has  always  been  a  public 
sufficiently  sympathetic  to  encourage  such  publications. 
The  volume  is  enlivened  by  occasional  rubrication,  which 
gives  it  a  distinguished  air. 

^  See  page  165. 


172  PRINTING  TYPES 

Besides  the  press  just  mentioned,  the  Italian  printing- 
houses  of  reputation  outside  of  Venice  at  that  period  were 
those  of  Volpi-Comino  at  Padua,  Delia  Volpe  at  Bologna, 
Soliani  at  Modena,  and  a  few  others.  To  rightly  place  the 
work  of  the  Venetian  press,  or  to  understand  the  reputation 
of  Bodoni,  we  ought  to  be  familiar  with  the  current  work 
of  these  presses.  Space  is  lacking  for  this  here,  but  we  may 
say  a  word  about  the  Padua  edition  of  Arrighi's  Latin  life 
of  Francisco  Morosini  {De  Vita  et  Rebus  Gestis  Francisci 
Mauroceni)^  a  volume  brought  out  by  Comino  in  1749  ^jig. 
121).  It  is  set  in  a  rather  handsome  old  style  character,  a 
good  deal  leaded.  Each  Book  begins  with  a  tasteless  wood- 
cut head-band,  with  several  lines  of  capitals  in  various  sizes 
and  variously  spaced  beneath  it,  and  a  large  woodcut  initial. 
The  italic  introduced  in  the  text  is  unduly  small  in  propor- 
tion to  the  roman  letter  and  far  too  much  spaced.  The  type- 
setting is  irregular,  the  presswork  very  uneven.  The  impo- 
sition is,  however,  fine,  the  margins  ample,  and  the  paper 
in  texture  charming.  The  prefatory  matter  is  neither  at- 
tractive in  its  separate  types  nor  harmonious  in  relation  to 
the  rest  of  the  book.  The  title-page,  with  a  copper-plate 
embellishment,  is  chiefly  set  in  handsome  roman  capitals  of 
various  sizes,  with  some  lines  or  words  rubricated.  It  is  not 
a  bad  piece  of  work,  nor  yet  a  good  one :  but  it  has  a  cer- 
tain modern  air. 

Many  luxurious  Italian  books  of  this  period,  while  ver- 
sions of  eighteenth  century  French  work,  were  freer  and 
more  interesting,  and  they  were  "embellished"  (and  really 
embellished)  'with  many  attractive  copper-plates  which  pic- 
tured eighteenth  century  ItaHan  —  and  especially  Venetian 
— life,  with  great  truth,  gaiety,  and  charm.  A  volume  quite 
in  the  French  manner  is  the  Versi  Sciolti  di  Tre  Eccellenti 
Modemi  Aiitori.  This  is  set  in  a  delicate  old  style  character, 


DBFLgERET'  RIPXQ:.  XESTUS  giRIDANTE    LEgARET* 

IPSE  etiXm  eximiAe  LAgois  sgccENsgs  Amoke 
AscANigs*  cgRgo  direxit  spicgiA  coRNg* 

NEC  DEXTRAE  ERRANTI  DEgS  ApgiT*  AcTAQ;  MgLTO- 
PERQ;  gTERgM  SONITg*   PERQ-  ILiA  gENIT  HARgNDO* 

sAgcigs  Ad  Qt^iADRgpEs*  notA  intra  tectA  REpgciT 

SgCCEoSITC^  GEMENS   STAlSgLIS.    QgESTgQi  CRgENTgs* 
ATQ:  IMPLORANTE   SIMILIS.  TECTgM  OMNE  REPLEBAT' 
SILgiA   PRIMA  SOROR*  pAlmis  PERCgSSA  lAcertos* 
AgxiLigM  gocAT'  et  DgRos  conclAmAt  Agrestzs* 

OLLI*  PESTIS  ENIM  TACITIS  LATET  ASPERA  SligiS* 
INPROgiSI  ADSgNT.  HIC  TORRE  ARMATgS  OBgSTO  * 
STIPITIS  HIC  GRAgiDl  NODIS-  QgOD  CgiQ^  REPERTg"* 

bimAnti*  TEigM  irA  fAcit'  gocAT  AgminA  TYRRgs* 
OyADRif iDxXmq  gERcgM.  cgNEis  gx  forte  coActis 
scindebA;kT'  rAptA  spirAns  immAne  SEcgRi  • 
Ad    sAEgA'E-  sPEcgLis.  XEMPgs  deA  nActA  nocendi* 

AROgA   TECTA   petit  STABgil*  ft  DE  CgLMINE   SgMMO* 
pastorale   CANIT   SIGNgM*  CORNgQ-   REcgRgo* 
TARTAREAM  INXarENDIT    gOCEM*  QljA   PROTINgs   OMNE 
CONTREMgiT  NEMgS-  ET  ET  SILgAE  INSONgERE  PROFLNDAs 
AgDIlT  ET  TRigiAE   LONGE   LAcgS-    AgDIIT  AMNIS* 

sgLPgREA  nAr  AiBgs  AQi^A-  fontesq-  gELiNi* 

ET  TREPIDAE  MxATRES'  prAessere  Ad  pectorA  nAtos* 

120.  Type  imitating  ancient  Manuscript:  Manni^  Florence^  1741 


ANTONII    ARRIGHII 

DE    VITA    ET    REBUS    GESTIS 

FRANCISCI     MAUROCENI 

PELOPONNESIACI 
PRINCIPIS    VENETORUM 

LIBER       III. 


Nterim  Picus,  de  quo  fupra  di« 
dum  eft,  cum  clafle  venit,  in 
qua  tres  &  triginta  vavix  for- 
mic naves  fuere:  eaque  noflro- 
rum  animi  func  vehementer 
recreati.  Nam  vulneribus  ac  labore  attriti, quern 
diu  >  nodluque*  propter  homicum  penuriam  fuf- 
cipere  cogebanmr.,  vix  vim  hoftium  >  atque 
impecum  fuftinebanc :  vixque  in  opere  verfa- 
bantur,  Milicum  copia  aliquanta  allara  eft:  pie- 
raque  item  bello  utilia;,qux  Achomacem,  plu- 


121.  Types  of  Arrig-hPs  Life  of  Morosini:  Connno^  Padua^  1749 


ITALIAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  173 

very  much  leaded,  and  though  the  presswork  is  careless, 
the  light  effect  of  its  type  and  the  use  of  fanciful  copper- 
plate decorations  make  it  quite  attractive — if  it  be  not  too 
critically  examined.  This  open  style  of  composition  fore- 
shadowed the  coming  fashion  for  lighter  types;  but  the 
book  was  printed  at  Venice  by  Modesto  Fenzo  as  early  as 
1758  (Jig.  122). 

Venetian  typography  always  had  a  certain  individuality. 
In  the  fifteenth  century — the  period  of  Aldus,  Ratdolt,  the 
De  Spires,  and  Jenson  —  this  was  surely  so ;  Venetian  books 
in  the  sixteenth  century  were  rather  in  a  class  by  themselves, 
and  had  a  delicate  and  tasteful  quality  which  was  interest- 
ing. In  some  instances  an  Aldine  italic  with  roman  capitals 
was  employed  for  the  text,  and  spaced  capitals  for  head-lines, 
in  loyalty  to  the  Aldine  fashion.  An  early  irregular  and  very 
characteristic  italic  {Jig.  104  )  was  now  and  then  introduced 
for  prefaces  and  chapter-headings,  and  this,  too,  gave  Vene- 
tian work  a  distinguished  note.  Two-line  initial  letters  were 
used  at  the  beginnings  of  new  sections,  and  large  capital 
pictorial  initials,  cut  on  wood,  sometimes  marked  chief  divi- 
sions. Although  such  typography  clearly  showed  the  gen- 
eral decline,  it  was  sufficiently  reminiscent  of  earlier  and 
better  work  to  command  respect,^  and  sixteenth  century  Ve- 
netian books  had  (as  in  the  eighteenth  century)  an  element 
of  taste  about  them,  which  made  them  somewhat  charming 
and  more  individual  than  printing  of  the  period  in  other 
parts  of  Italy. 

The  eighteenth  century  illustrated  books  printed  in  Ven- 
ice are  comparatively  little  known.  The  chief  Venetian  pub- 

*  Two  books  taken  at  random  —  both  printed  in  1554  —  embody  these  fea- 
tures; namely,  Ovid's  Heroides  with  commentaries  printed  by  Fi*ancesco 
Bindoni,  and  MattioH's  commentaries  on  the  Materia  Medica  of  Dioscorides 
—  a  famous  Italian  herbal,  with  excellent  woodcuts  of  plants,  etc.,  published 
by  Valgrisi. 


174  PRINTING  TYPES 

lishers  of  this  class  of  volume  were  J.  B.  Pasquali,  the  Al- 
brizzi,and  Zatta.In  1745  a  most  imposing  edition  of  Tasso's 
Gemsalemme  Liberata^  in  folio,  ^^•as  printed  at  Venice  by  Al- 
brizzi  (^*^.s\  123  cmd  124).  This  edition — dedicated  to  Maria 
Theresa — owes  its  chief  splendour  to  Piazzetta's  illustra- 
tions and  ornaments,  which  are  delightful.  But  it  is,  too,  an 
effective  piece  of  printing.  In  spite  of  employing  types  which, 
on  examination,  are  terribly  coarse,  they  "play  up  "manfully 
to  the  gorgeous  designs  !  In  spite  of  presswork  at  times  care- 
less and  muddy,  the  pages  have  a  great  air !  We  may  pull 
the  book  to  pieces  and  condemn  every  detail ;  but  it  lives — 
insolentlv  careless  of  what  one  thinks  of  it !  And  another 
illustrated  edition  of  the  same  poem,  in  two  quarto  volumes 
printed  by  Antonio  Groppo  at  Venice  in  1760,  though  a 
somewhat  heavy  example  of  this  style,  is  also  a  spirited  and 
pleasure-giving  performance.  It  was  no  doubt  meant  for  a 
luxurious  edition, — a  gift-book,  perhaps, — for  its  critical 
apparatus  by  Gentili  is  given  so  little  importance,  and  its 
innumerable  illustrations  so  much,  that  the  latter  were  ap- 
parently its  "feature."  As  such  books  go,  it  is  a  fine  edition, 
rough  and  slipshod  in  execution,  but  telling  and  full-blooded. 
The  types  are  a  series  of  rough  old  style  fonts,  displayed 
lines  of  capitals  being  much  spaced. 

An  annotated  Dante  was  published  by  Zatta  in  1757  in 
a  similarly  lively  style — the  title-page  to  Volume  I  being 
printed  in  red  and  black,  with  a  delightful  copper-plate 
vignette  in  bright  blue !  This,  too,  is  printed  on  agreeable 
paper  (but  not  w<?// printed)  from  light  old  style  roman  types. 
The  book  is  decorated  with  rather  futile  copper-plate  illus- 
trations and  ornaments ;  the  prettiest  feature  of  the  latter 
being  the  engraved  framework  at  the  beginning  of  cantos, 
around  the  arguments,  themselves  engraved.  This  was  a 
verv  common  ornamental  treatment  of  similar  matter  in  all 


(  L  X  X  V.  ) 

ALP.  FEDERIGO   SANVITALI 

Della  Compagnia  di  Gesu 

Sopra  gll  Jludj  Poet'ici  dl  ejfo  dottijjlmo  Padre  y  e  com- 
menda  il  Stgnor  Conte  Jacopo  Sanvitali  pel  fa* 
vore  che  prejla  alle  belle  arti  ,  e  per  le  altre  fue  ra* 
re  doti, 

"Erche  fi  tarda,  qual  piu  fo,  tl  vergo 
Umil  rifpofla  da  le  tacit'  ombre 
De  r  amena  Vigatto,  ove  la  bionda 

Cerere,  e  il  buon  Leneo  veflono  i  Campi, 

De  i  celebrati  Terzl  eftivo  albergo  ? 

Forfe  i  bei  verfi  tuol  fcordar  potei  , 

Inclito  Federigo,  e  ognor  la  mente 

Anzi  non  ebbf,  quante  mai  nel  Clelo 

Sorfero  da  quel  di  candide  lune 

Ebbra,  e  gioconda  del  lor  dolce  fuono? 

Quando  quel  foglio  tuo,  come  tentata 

Indica  vena  i  fuoi  cefor  difchiude, 

Agli  occhi  mlei  non  afpettato  aperfc 

Occuiti  fenfi,  e  le  parole  adorne, 

Per  foverchio  piacer  qual  mi  reftafli, 

Per  me  tel  dica  la  faconda  Euterpe , 

K     2.  Che, 

122.  Pag-e  showing'  light  types^  openly  set:  Fenzo^  Venice^  1758 


^ 


<ij 


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B 


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Wl5 


^ 

1 


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5 


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^ 


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55t    r^ 


1 


U4  ^  ^   ^ 


f 

fcuO 


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5: 


^ 


Si 


<^ 


Si 


-^ 


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Si 

Si 


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^ 
^ 

^ 


o 

^ 


Argomento 
Manda-  cLlortoscLDto  l'Aiu/eio,ii'poiy 
Go^ri/o  adu/ia.  cF/indpi  CristianL'. 
Quiin.  conayrdi  qu^^Janiosi  EroO 
Lul  Duce.^yan,  de^/i  a/iri  Cofi&ino'. 
Quince  e^/i  pricL  <vuol  nva^e  c  JuoU 
Soao  I'inse^ne; e poiyri/ivccv  m'piani 
C/i '«-  Sion^  van/w:  i/i-  ttt/ito  di'  Giiu/eaJ 
"//Re  j(  hi/ da,  a//a  novedcv  ^eaJ 


CANTO      PRIMO. 


I. 

Anto  rarmi  pietofe,  e'l  Capitano> 
Che  1   gran    fepolcro  libero    di 

Cristo. 
Molto    egli  opro  col    feimo  e  con 

la  manoj 
Molto  fofFri  nel  gloriofo  acqiiiflo: 
E  invan  1' Inferno  a  lui  s'oppofe  \  e  invano 
S'armo   d' Afia    e  di  Libia    il    popol  miflo: 
Che '1    Ciel  gli  die  favore,  e  fotto  ai  fanti 
Segni  ridufTe  i  fuoi  compagni  erranti. 

( 1 ) 


124.  Page  of  Gerusalemme  Liberata:  Albrizzi^  Venice^  17 AS 
{much  reduced) 


ITALIAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  175 

these  books.  The  remaining  volumes  are  treated  in  a  more 
sober  style.  But  it  is  a  very  Venetian  performance — per- 
fectly irrelevant  to  Dante  —  and  one  cares  as  little  about 
that  as  the  publisher  did !  This  edidon,  in  five  quarto  vol- 
umes, was  dedicated  to  the  Empress  Elizabeth  of  Russia. 

Zatta's  1772-73  edition  of  Ariosto's  Orlando  Furioso  is  a 
typical  late  eighteenth  century  Venetian  quarto.  It  is  in  four 
volumes,  carelessly  printed  from  rough  old  style  types  — 
the  Life  in  italic,  the  text  and  notes  in  roman.  But  it  is  such 
a  large,  easy,  gay  book! — ample  margins,  attractive,  thin 
paper,  full  of  engraved  illustrations  and  fanciful,  lively  en- 
cadrements.  It  is  a  very  good  specimen  of  the  Venetian  print- 
ing of  its  time,  and  perfectly  readable. 

Another  characteristic  work  which  shows  the  arrival  of 
the  fashion  for  lighter  type  effects  is  Carlo  Goldoni's  Opere 
Teatrale  in  forty-four  16mo  volumes,  brought  out  between 
1788  and  1795  in  a  delightful  \\XX\e  fonnat^  and  adorned 
with  amusing  copper-plates  of  scenes  from  the  plays  — 
rami  ailusivi,  as  they  are  called  by  the  publishers;  though 
in  his  letter  to  the  printer  (dated  Paris,  1788),  Goldoni  says 
that  he  desires  no  decorations  for  this  edition,  but  depends 
on  Zatta's  reputation  for  exactness.  The  type  is  old  style, 
but  very  light  in  cut  and  very  openly  set — quite  modern 
in  effect,  through  the  composition  rather  than  the  type. 
Another  fascinating  little  book,  printed  by  Zatta  in  1787, 
is  a  two- volume  edition  of  Tasso's  Gerusalemme  Liberata  in 
16mo — an  example  of  his  more  intimate  style,  and  much 
better  printed  than  the  Goldoni.  It  is  set  in  a  workmanlike 
eighteenth  century  roman  face,  slightly  leaded,  with  three 
verses  to  a  page,  and  each  canto  begins  with  a  clever  little 
vignette  {Jig.  125).  The  presswork,  though  careless,  is  re- 
spectable for  its  period.  The  Tasso  appears  to  have  been 
part  of  a  collection  of  Opere  of  Italian  poets,  and  was  a  sort 


176  PRINTING  TYPES 

of  decorated  Italian  "Pickering  edition,"  to  be  read  in  the 
grotto  of  an  eighteenth  century  Italian  garden. 

Such  books — particularly  editions  like  Zatta's  Dante  or 
Albrizzi's  Tasso — were  often  entirely  inappropriate  to  their 
subject  in  treatment,  and  just  as  often  wholly  delightful! 
The  reason  we  like  them  so  much  —  or  that  I  do — is  that 
they  reflect  so  perfectly  the  Venetian  life  of  which  they 
were  accessories  —  that  vie  ga/ante,  painted  by  Guardi,  de- 
scribed by  President  de  Brosses,  and  mirrored  in  the  theatre 
of  Goldoni;^  and  we  cannot  judge  such  pieces  of  printing, 
or  any  printing,  justly,  unless  we  know  something  about 
the  hfe  in  which  they  played  a  part.  Of  course  one  cannot 
imagine  wanting  much  to  read  these  Venetian  eighteenth 
century  editions  now ;  but  then  one  would  not  now  rer.d 
Sabbath  Bells  chimedby  the  Poets^  illustrated  by  Birket  Foster, 
and  published  in  the  'sixties.  Our  parents,  however,  did. 
And  that  was  a  very  good  book,  too,  no  doubt,  for  it  belonged 
not  merely  with  black  walnut  furniture  and  Landseer's  en- 
gravings, but  with  the  gentle  manners,  decent  reticences, 
and  old  loyalties  that  were  matters  of  course  then ! 

In  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  great 
figure  in  Italian  printing  was  Giambattista  Bodoni,  Court 
Printer  to  the  Duke  of  Parma.  Although  the  change  in  type- 
fashions  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  fostered 
by  Bodoni  (who  with  the  Didots  had  more  to  do  in  bring- 
ing it  about  than  any  one  else),  it  must  be  remembered  that 
he  was  at  work  at  Parma  as  early  as  1770.  At  first  he  used 
Fournier's  old  style  types,  and  later  he  made  copies  of 
Fournier's  fonts.  The  splendour  of  his  early  decorated  work 
has  not  been  praised  enough ;  for  his  later  work  (done  be- 

'  For  an  account  of  decorated  Venetian  books  the  reader  may  consult  Berta- 
relli's  /  libri  illustrati  a  Venczia  nei  secoli  XVII  e  XVIII,  in  Revista  della 
Biblioteche  e  degli  Jrchivi,  March-April,  1903. 


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ITALIAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  177 

tween  1800  and  1813),  which  is  "nineteenth  century"  in 
feeling,  is  that  by  which  he  is  best  remembered.  Didot  of 
Paris  and  Ibarra  of  Madrid  both  worked  in  a  style  akin  to 
that  of  Bodoni  in  the  early  part  of  his  career.  It  is  because 
both  the  Didots  and  Bodoni  later  adopted  the  rather  aca- 
demic and  frigid  style  by  which  we  now  remember  them, 
that  we  forget  that  they  worked  earlier  just  as  successfully 
(perhaps  more  so)  with  old  style  types  in  an  eighteenth  cen- 
tury manner.  In  any  case,  Bodoni  had  a  very  special  sort  of 
press,  and  his  editions  were  too  luxurious  and  individual  to 
be  representative  of  Italian  printing;^  but  one  cannot  ap- 
preciate what  he  was  trying  to  do^  or  understand  his  success, 
unless  one  sees  the  rank  and  file  of  books  of  his  time. 

Finally,  for  two  very  late  eighteenth  century  books,  which 
are  of  the  file  if  not  of  the  rank,  we  may  look,  first,  at  Sar- 
dini's  Storia  Critica  di  Nicolao  Jenson^  printed  at  Lucca  be- 
tween 1796  and  1798.  In  this  the  roman  and  italic  type, 
though  still  old  style,  shows  a  distinct  tendency  toward 
what  we  now  call  a  "modern  face,"  and  also  a  certain  nar- 
rowing of  the  character  in  the  interests  of  condensation  — 
a  bad  feature,  but  one  increasingly  followed  in  the  next 
century  ^jig.  126);  secondly,  we  may  examine  Cristoforo 
Poggiali's  Memorie  per  la  Storia  Letteraria  di  Piacenza — 
printed  at  Piacenza  in  two  quarto  volumes  by  Niccolo  Or- 
cesi  in  1789.  This  work  is  set  in  type  of  an  even  more 
"modern"  cut,  much  more  spaced  and  leaded  than  any  we 
have  hitherto  seen.  It  is  not  an  attractive  type ;  still  less  the 
italic,  which  is  mean  and  poor  in  cut ;  and  the  effect  of  the 
book  is  frigid  and  mechanical.  Yet  such  type  is  a  forecast 
of  the  later  manner  of  much  Italian  printing  {Jig.  127).  Not 
only  the  types  themselves  became  lighter  and  lighter,  but 

'  Bodoni 's  books  are  described  in  the  pages  devoted  to  early  nineteenth  cen- 
tury Italian  types. 


178  PRINTING  TYPES 

they  were  set  in  a  more  open  way;  and  some  of  the  late 
eighteenth  century  ItaHan  books  were  almost  as  anaemic  as 
German  work  of  the  same  period.  By  the  end  of  the  eight- 
eenth century,  Italian  typography  was  following  those  fash- 
ions which  influenced  printers  throughout  Europe. 

In  looking  back  over  this  three  hundred  years  of  Italian 
printing/  it  appears  that,  for  the  first  fifty  or  sixty  years  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  books  retained  something  of  the  "noble 
manner,"  though  in  details  they  showed  a  lack  of  the  sim- 
plicity of  older  work  ;  that  this  survival  of  an  earlier  style 
slowly  disappeared  because (l)  the  generation  had  passed  to 
whom  the  style  of  manuscipt  books  acted  as  a  restraining 
influence;  (2)  more  complicated  literary  apparatus  came 
into  use  for  which  there  was  no  early  precedent ;  and  (3)  the 
class  of  men  interested  or  employed  in  printing  were  neither 
as  educated  nor  as  skilful  as  formerly.  Gothic  type  was  soon 
driven  out  by  roman  ;  and  this  roman  type,  which  was 
all  of  old  style  cut,  as  time  went  on  was  used  in  a  larger 
variety  of  sizes  and  employed  with  less  care.  The  })opularity 
of  copper-plate  engraving  for  illustration  increased  confu- 
sion, while  it  did  not  improve  typography;  and  the  pomp- 
ous architecture  and  decoration  of  the  seventeenth  century 
was  reflected  in  the  use  of  types  and  even  in  the  types  them- 
selves. Toward  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  books 
were  printed  in  a  slightly  more  modern  style  of  letter,  and 
all  through  the  eighteenth  century  types  became  lighter  and 

Le  iJvre  en  Italic  a  travers  les  Si^cles,  an  illustrated  catalogue  of  a  collec- 
tion of  books  exhibited  by  Leo  S.  Olschi  of  Florence  at  the  Leipsic  Book  Ex- 
hibition of  1914,  may  be  consulted  for  titlesof  some  remarkable  Italian  books 
printed  from  the  fifteenth  to  the  eighteenth  century.  For  illustJ-ated  Italian 
books,  many  of  which  are  interesting  specimens  of  i)rinting,  sec  Pollard's 
Italian  Bfjok-Illuatration  and  pMrly  Printini(.  A  Catalogue  of  Early  Italian 
Books  in  the  Library  of  C.  W.  Dyson  Perrins.  Ixindon,  1914.  The  earliest 
work  described  is  dated  1467  —  the  latest,  1645. 


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sometimes  more  modelled,  until  both  through  cut  of  char- 
acter and  open  composition,  the  ground  was  prepared  for 
that  entire  change  of  style  in  type-forms  which  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  took  place. 

II 

FOURNIER  in  his  account  of  Italian  foundries  says: 
"This  country,  which  aided  the  initial  steps  of  printing 
by  the  establishment  of  the  celebrated  Venetian  foundries, 
preserves  scarcely  anything  of  its  first  renown  in  this  respect. 
There  are  still  some  foundries  at  Venice,  but  they  are  not 
much  esteemed.  In  the  last  century  one  existed  which  was 
very  valuable  on  account  of  the  beauty  of  its  Latin  and  Greek 
characters  by  French  masters.  It  belonged  to  Deucheni. 

"The  City  of  Rome,  formerly  the  centre  of  the  fine  arts, 
has  only  one  foundry  which  is  worth  knowing  about, 
namely,  that  of  the  Vatican.  It  was  commenced  about  1578 
by  the  celebrated  French  type-cutter  Robert  Granjon,  who 
was  called  to  Rome  by  Gregory  XIII.  He  worked  under  the 
orders  of  Cardinal  de'  Medici  on  different  Latin,  Arabic,  Syr- 
ian, Armenian,  Illyrian,  and  Muscovite  types.^  This  foun- 
dry, which  has  been  since  somewhat  neglected,  forms  part 
of  the  typographical  establishment  of  the  Vatican. 

"Piedmont,  like  Savoy,  is  not  rich  in  foundries.  One 
alone,  established  towards  1742  at  Turin,  and  for  which  I 
have  furnished  some  sets  of  matrices  of  my  types,  suffices 
for  both  these  territories.  It  belongs  to  a  society  of  individ- 
uals attached  to  the  Royal  Printing  House. 

Oriental  typography  was  developed  at  Rome  under  the  protection  of  Cardi- 
nal de'  Medici.  Some  Greek,  roman,  and  Oriental  types  cut  by  Robert  Granjon 
for  Basa  were  bought  for  the  Medici  establishment ;  and  Granjon  was  em- 
ployed there  to  engrave  others.  The  first  book  published  by  the  Stamperia 
Medicea  was  an  Arabic  edition  of  the  Ciospels  in  1590.  Its  tractate  on  tlie  use 
of  Arabic  types,  brought  out  in  1592  under  the  title  Alphabetuni  Arabicum, 
has  already  been  mentioned. 


180  PRINTING  TYPES 

"At  Milan  there  is  only  one  foundry  and  that  a  poor  one, 
established  in  1719  by  a  printer  named  Bellagata,  who  bought 
the  punches  and  matrices  belonging  to  Ignace  Antoine  Keb- 
lin,  a  wandering  type-cutter  and  founder  who  travelled  from 
city  to  city.  This  foundry  has  since  passed  to  three  brothers 
named  Sangiusti,  of  whom  one  is  an  ecclesiastic  and  the 
other  two  clock-makers.  These  last  being  dead,  it  now  re- 
mains in  the  hands  of  the  ecclesiastic. 

"About  twenty  years  since, an  individual  named Legrand, 
a  type-founder  and  a  very  poor  type-cutter,  established  his 
foundry  at  Avignon.  It  has  passed  into  the  hands  of  M. 
Per  not,  who  has  added  to  its  collection  some  matrices  of 
other  types." 

A  few  Italian  specimen-books  may  be  examined  as  docu- 
ments on  Italian  type-forms.  As  two  of  them  came  from 
printing-houses  of  a  particular  character,  something  must 
first  be  said  about  the  printer  "by  special  appointment," 
and  of  the  press  which  was  founded  for  some  particular 
purpose. 

The  first  privileged  pv'mtmg-house  in  Rome  or  elsewhere 
was  that  of  the  printer-publisher,  AntonioBlado,  who  worked 
therebetween  1515  and  1567.  He  was  given,  in  1549,  the  title 
of  Tipograjb  Camerale,  or  printer  to  the  Apostolic  Chamber. 
Blado  had  some  good  fonts  of  type — gothic,  semi-gothic, 
and  roman — and  was  one  of  the  first  printers  to  follow  the 
Aldine  office  in  its  use  of  italic.  He  also,  by  the  \\"ay,  printed 
the  first  Index  Expurgatoriits^  in  1557.  His  work  was  con- 
tinued by  his  heirs  until  1593. 

A  special  printing-house  for  the  use  of  the  Holy  See  was 
the  idea  of  Pius  IV,  in  1560 — the  year  of  the  assembling 
of  the  Council  of  Trent.  Paul  Manutius  was  chosen  to  take 
charge  of  it,  and  the  first  book  it  issued,  in  1 562,  was  a  work 
on  the  council  —  De  Concilio — by  the  English  cardinal, 


ITALIAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  181 

Reginald  Pole,  to  which  Manutius  contributed  a  preface. 
Its  output  was  very  largely  devoted  to  the  affairs  and  decrees 
of  the  Council.  Because  its  expenses  were  in  part  defrayed 
by  a  wine-tax  levied  on  the  citizens  of  Rome,  it  was  called 
Tipograjia  del  Popolo  Romano.  Its  work  came  to  an  end  not 
many  years  after  the  retirement  of  Manutius  to  Venice 
in  1570. 

Meanwhile,  the  Stamperia  Vaticana  had  been  founded 
by  Sixtus  V  in  1587,  and,  as  its  name  implies,  it  was  housed 
in  the  Vatican,  next  to  the  Vatican  Library,  looking  out 
upon  the  Cortile  di  Belvidere.  Domenico  Basa  of  Venice 
was  its  director,  and  Aldus  Manutius  the  younger  was  as- 
sociated with  him  in  its  affairs  for  some  ten  years,  until  his 
death  in  1597.  A  magnificent  example  of  Basa's  work  is  the 
folio  Delia  Trasportazione  delV  Obelisco  Faticano,  etc.  (re- 
cording Fontana's  feat  in  setting  up  the  obelisk  in  the 
Piazza  of  St.  Peter's),  printed  at  Rome  in  1590.  Apart  from 
the  splendid  architectural  plates,  the  beautiful  roman  and 
italic  {corsivo  grosso)  fonts,  and  Basa's  bold,  clever  manage- 
ment of  them,  produce  a  volume  very  sumptuous  in  its 
effect. 

In  connection  with  this  printing-house  a  foundry  was  set 
up — the  only  one  at  Rome  which  Fournier  thought  worth 
consideration.  A  good  deal  of  its  material  was  the  handiwork 
of  Granjon,  whose  italic  letter  was  particularly  admired,  and 
who  also  cut  many  fonts  of  Oriental  alphabets.  In  1610 
the  Tipografia  Camerale  and  the  Stamperia  Vaticana  were 
united. 

The  specimen-book  of  this  office  was  published  in  1628, 
and  was  compiled  by  its  director,  Brogiotti.  An  account  of 
its  types  and  some  reproductions  of  them  have  been  given 
under  Italian  seventeenth  century  printing. 

We  now  come  to  the  press  and  foundry  of  the  Congre- 


182  PRINTING  TYPES 

gation  of  the  Propaganda,  also  at  Rome,  which  was  estab- 
lished in  1626  in  a  "polyglot"  printing-office  for  missionary 
purposes.  It  was  started  through  the  gift,  by  Ferdinand  II, 
of  Illyrian  types  for  a  Missal,  and  the  exotic  types  of  the 
Vatican  printing-office  were  added  to  its  stock.  Some  of  the 
Medici  Oriental  types  were  also  in  use  there ;  others  were 
engraved  for  it  by  Stefano  Paolini.  In  a  year  or  two  it  pos- 
sessed punches  and  matrices  for  the  alphabets  of  twenty- 
three  languages.  The  best  period  of  this  office  was  during 
the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  under  the  directorship 
of  Ruggeri  and  Amaduzzi.  Bodoni  received  his  early  train- 
ing from  Ruggeri,  cut  some  of  the  types  for  this  office,  and 
always  retained  an  attachment  for  it.  Under  Ruggeri's  suc- 
cessor, Amaduzzi,  the  establishment  had  fonts  for  forty- 
four  languages.  Specimens  of  these,  accompanied  by  learned 
tractates  on  their  composition — generally  found  nowadays 
bound  together  —  are  important  documents  in  the  history 
of  the  founding  and  use  of  "exotic"  fonts.  What  the  office 
accomplished  is  recorded  in  the  tasteful  little  Catalo^us 
Libronim  qui  ex.  Typographio  Sacrw  Congreg.  de  Propaganda 
Fide  va/iis  Unguis  prodiei'unf,  published  at  Rome  in  1773. 
Sixteen  specimens  of  alphabets  are  among  its  entries,  and 
then  follow  lists  of  books  published  in  each  language.  Since 
the  publication  of  this  catalogue,  other  alphabets  have  occa- 
sionally appeared  up  to  the  present  day. 

An  interesting  use  of  some  of  these  exotic  types  is  shown 
in  an  effective  folio  volume,  printed  from  fonts  in  this  office, 
and  issued  at  Rome  in  1 736,  in  commemoration  of  the  death 
of  Maria  Clementina  Sobieski,  wife  of  the  Old  Pretender 
— entitled  Parentalia  in  Anniversario  Funere  Marix  Clemen- 
tina Magnse  Britannix  ^c,  Regina:  Hebrew,  Greek,  Arabic, 
Syriac,  Armenian,  Chaldaic,  Coptic,  Ruthenian,  German, 
and  even  the  tongue  of  Malabar — every  language  except 


ITALIAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  183 

English — celebrates  the  virtues  of  the  unfortunate  titular 
Queen  of  England ! 

Toward  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  printing- 
house  of  the  Propaganda  was  despoiled  unmercifully.  Under 
the  French  Directory,  "the  government  commissioners 
being  charged  with  selecting  in  Italy  the  monunwnU  of  cut 
with  which  it  is  important  to  enrich  France^  proceeded  to  take 
the  necessary  steps  to  procure  for  the  Republic's  printing- 
office  a  set  of  matrices  of  all  the  foreign  characters  in  the 
Propaganda  office  in  Rome."  This  was  in  1798.  In  the  next 
year,  the  "necessary  steps"  were  taken  and  the  French  com- 
missioners confiscated  much  of  its  material  —  not  merely 
punches  and  types,  but  almost  everything  else  they  could 
lay  their  hands  on. 

Although  beyond  the  limits  of  the  eighteenth  century,  its 
later  history  may  be  recorded  here.  After  1800  the  office 
began  to  recover;  but  presently  Napoleon  took  a  hand  in 
its  affairs.  Pius  VII,  when  in  France  for  Napoleon's  corona- 
tion in  1805,  was  taken  by  the  Emperor  to  visit  the  Impri- 
merie  Imperiale ;  where  were  printed,  in  honour  of  the  Pope, 
a  Latin  address^  and  also  a  volume  containing  the  Lord's 
Prayer  in  one  hundred  and  fifty  languages^ — the  Impri- 
merie  being  filled  with  fonts  which,  though  styled  typis  impe- 
rialibus,  were  stolen  from  the  Propaganda  printing-office ! 

*  jidlocutio  et  Encomia  Variis  Linguis  Ex/iressa,  quse.  Summo  Pontijici 
Pio  VII,  Tyfiografihise  Imfieriale  Mus3£um  Invisenti,Obtutit  Joannes  Jose- 
fihiLS  Marcel,  Tyfiografihaei  Imfierialis  administer  generalis,  Lutetise  Pari- 
siorum,  Tyfiis  Imfierialibus.  Anno  Re/iaratse  Salutis  1805,  Imfieriique  J^a- 
fioleonis  P^imo — in  which  NAPOLEON  always  appeared  in  capitals,  and 
Pius  in  capitals  and  small  capitals ! 

*  Oratio  Dominica  CL  Unguis  Versa,  FJ  F^ofiriis  Cujusque  Linguse  Char- 
acteribus  Plerumque  Exfiressa  ;  Edcnte  J.  J.  Marcel,  etc.  The  last  page  bears 
the  inscription,  "Hie  opus  Polyglotticum  coram  Supremo  Pontifice  impres- 
sum  est."  One  hundred  and  fifty  presses  are  said  to  have  been  simultaneously 
in  use  to  effect  this ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  Pope's  visit,  a  bound  copy  of  the 
completed  book  was  given  him. 


184  PRINTING  TYPES 

However,  Bodoni  in  1808  made  it  a  present  of  types  ;  but  in 
Juh",  1812,  the  office  was  suppressed,  and  in  November  the 
Prefectof  Rome  ordered  thatall  matrices  stored  there  should 
be  sent  to  Paris.  Some  of  Bodoni's  characters  were  hidden 
and  some  other  material  was  kept  back.  Nevertheless,  by 
this  and  former  pillage,  the  greater  part  of  the  punches, 
matrices,  and  types  were  lost  to  it. 

On  the  return  of  the  Bourbons  to  France,  the  Imprimerie 
Royale  was  confided  to  one  of  the  Anissons,  a  family  which 
had  held  control  of  the  French  national  printing-house  for 
a  hundred  years  before  the  Revolution,  when  the  last  direc- 
tor, Anisson  du  FevTon, ''^ pent  revo/utiomiairement''^  in  1794. 
Pius  VII  demanded  the  return  of  the  confiscated  material, 
M'hich  was  essential  for  use  in  books  for  Catholic  missions. 
Anisson  replied  that  it  was  at  the  Pope's  disposal,  but  noth- 
ing was  done.  Apparently  there  were  "reasons,"  and  they 
were  such  forcible  ones  that  the  types  remain  in  the  Impri- 
merie Nationale  to-day.  The  Propaganda  Office  has  been 
revived  under  later  Popes,  and  still  exists,  though  its  glories 
are  decayed  and  it  has  to-day  mainly  an  historical  interest. 

Our  next  Italian  specimen  is  Bodoni's  Fr'egi  e  Majuscole 
of  1771.^  In  this  we  are  able  to  see  what  types  and  orna- 
ments Bodoni  used  in  the  earlier  part  of  his  career.  They 
are  (as  he  says  in  his  very  "  worth-\\  hile"  preface)  a  deriva- 
tion from  Fournier,  but  lack  that  precision  which  Bodoni 
embodied  so  characteristically  in  his  nineteenth  century 
types  {^jig.  131a).  They  exhibit,  however,  his  admiration  for 
Fournier,  whom  he  copied  in  a  flattering  but  barefaced  man- 
ner. Granted  that  the  most  agreeable  features  of  the  book  are 
copied,  this  "specimen"  of  1771  is  one  of  the  most  tasteful 
and  charming  volumes  of  its  kind  in  existence.  Each  page 

*  Fregi  t;  Majuscole  incise  e  fuse  da  Giambattista  Bodoni,  Direttore  delta 
Stamfjeria  Realc.  A  Parma,  nella  Stam/ieria  Stessa.  1771. 


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ITALIAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  185 

is  surrounded  with  borders,  of  which  scarcely  one  is  bad, 
or  scarcely  two  alike.  The  types  are  old  style,  but  their  deli- 
cacy shows  current  tendencies;  and  this  is  specially  true 
of  the  italic  {Jig.  128).  The  Greek  character  is  condensed 
and  very  ugly,  and  but  one  font  is  shown  as  against  the 
twenty-eight  varieties  exhibited  in  Bodoni's  Greek  speci- 
men of  1788/  Bodoni's  ornamented  letters  {Jig.  130  a)  are 
modelled  on  those  of  Fournier.  The  377  vignettes  or  orna- 
ments (exactly  the  number  shown  in  the  Manuel)  are 
mostly  recut  after  Fournier's  designs,  but  Bodoni's  versions 
have  less  colour  and  warmth  and  a  certain  Italian  twist  to 
them — of  those  shown  {Jig.  129),  all  but  two  (305  and  325) 
are  copies  or  adaptations.  Their  arrangement  as  borders  for 
initials  {Jig.  130  b)  and  as  head-pieces,  etc.,  is  ingenious. 
Bodoni's  tide-page,  half-tide  to  the  specimen  of  types,  and 
some  minor  decorations — for  instance,  the  type  "bees"  sur- 
rounding type  "flowers," to  which  he  has  added  the  familiar 
motto  from  Virgil  {Jig.  131  b)  —  are  neatly  "lifted"  from 
Fournier's  Manuel.  All  the  same,  the  book  is  enormously 
instructive  to  compare  with  Bodoni's  great,  chilly  master- 
pieces, the  Oratio  Dominica  and  the  Mamiale  Tipograjico  of 
1818.  And  there  are  two  other  books  of  Bodoni's  early  period 
which  appeal  specially  to  students  of  types — his  Iscrizioni 
esotiche,  composed  by  J.  B.  Rossi  and  issued  in  1774,  and  his 
folio  Epithalamia  Exoticis  Linguis  Reddita  of  1775,  em- 
ploying alphabets  of  some  twenty-five  languages  and  ex- 
quisitely decorated.  These,  with  his  Manuale  Tipograjico  of 
1788,  and  his  less  known  folio  collection  of  Latin,  Greek, 
and  Russian  types  of  the  same  year,  show  Bodoni's  original 
material  and  incidentally  his  first  way  of  working,  and  are 
discussed  in  another  chapter  in  connection  with  his  later 
work. 

'  Serie  de^  Caratteri  Greci  di  Giambatista  Bodoni,  1788. 


186  PRINTING  TYPES 

Our  last  type- specimen  book  is  that  of  Zatta  of  Venice 
of  1794/  apparently  a  second  and  enlarged  edition  of  an 
earlier  book.  The  Zattas  were  printers,  publishers,  and  type- 
founders—  Tipograji^  Calcograji  e  Libra j  Ferwti — and  their 
establishment  was  the  largest  and  among  the  most  esteemed 
in  Venice.  Their  specimen  opens  with  a  resume  of  the  his- 
tory" of  typography,  and  among  contemporary  printers  men- 
tioned are  Comino  of  Padua,  the  brothers  Foulis  of  Glas- 
gow, Baskeryille  of  Birmingham,  Ibarra  of  Madrid,  Didot 
of  Paris,  and  Bodoni.  The  definition  of  a  typographer  shows 
that  they  had  read  Fournier's  J/cwz/d"/ to  advantage.  A  state- 
ment about  the  knowledge  necessary  to  proper  cutting  and 
casting  of  type,  with  occasional  details  as  to  their  own  prac- 
tice, is  followed  by  a  table  of  types  in  stock,  weight  per  page, 
etc.  In  the  types  shown,  smaller  sizes  have  the  prevailing 
tendency  to  lightness  which  was  coming  into  fashion;  as  in 
the  Garamoncin  11"  {Jig.  132).  These  fonts  are  not  very  well 
cut,  and  the  italic,  especially  in  mass,  is  gray  and  uninter- 
esting. Testo  d''Aldo  P  is,  however,  a  fine  letter,  and  appears 
to  be  a  survival  of  an  earlier  period — as  does  Canojicin  P 
and  Canoncin  IP^  and  Canon  in  both  its  sizes.  The  repro- 
duction of  the  Filosojia  11"^  shows  in  the  roman,  but  par- 
ticularly in  the  italic,  that  an  approach  to  a  modern  face 
type  had  been  made  in  Italy  {Jig.  133).  The  borders — in 
some  cases  interesting  as  showing  Italianized  derivations 
from  Fournier  {Jg.  134) — are  effective  but  coarse.  The 
specimen  is  (naturally  enough)  to  French  specimens,  what 
Italian  eighteenth  century  volumes  are  to  the  more  finished 
French  books  then  current. 

*  Saggi  dei  Caratteri,  Vigiiette  e  Fregi  della  JVuova  Fonderia  de  jintonio 
Zatta  efigli,  Tifiograji,  Calcogrqfi  e  Lihraj  Veneti.  Venice,  1 794.  As  has  been 
said,  the  chief  Itahan  printing-houses  at  the  time  of  Bodoni's  debut  were  the 
Tipografia  del  Santissimo  Saci-aniento  at  Urbino,  the  Voljji-Cominiana  Press 
at  Padua,  and  those  of  Sohani  and  Zatta  respectively  at  Modena  and  Venice. 


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ITALIAN  TYPES:  1500-1800  187 

Besides  describing  a  few  specimen-books,  I  have  devoted 
some  space  to  the  history  of  the  offices  themselves,  because 
it  is  one  more  evidence  of  the  antiquity  of  much  that  we 
think  of  as  modern.  The  "privileged  press,"  which  had  cer- 
tain rights  (analogous  to  those  of  the  King's  Printers  in 
English  Bibles  and  Prayer-Books),  and  the  "special  press," 
founded  to  promote  the  needs  of  some  particular  depart- 
ment of  knowledge,  are  neither  of  them  new  projects.  Many 
types  in  the  two  or  three  great  presses  and  foundries  of 
the  world  came  originally  from  old  offices  of  this  second 
class,  which  did  not  survive,  either  because  the  motive 
power  which  carried  them  on  ceased  with  the  death  of  the 
founder ;  or  a  special  work  which  they  were  intended  to  do 
was  accomplished ;  or  because  they  lacked  that  fundamental 
necessity  to  the  foundation  of  all  great  presses — a  certain 
vision  backed  by  permanent  endowment.  A  large  number 
of  private  presses  existed  in  Italy  at  the  time  of  which  I  am 
writing.  Indeed,  the  earliest  of  them  was  founded  in  1491. 
There  were,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  fifteen  private  presses 
in  different  parts  of  the  Italian  peninsula ;  and  in  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries  a  dozen  different  private  ven- 
tures of  this  sort,  sometimes  presided  over  by  authors  or 
book-lovers,  sometimes  by  religious  communities.  And  they 
exist  to-day.  For  neither  the  privileged  press,  the  institu- 
tional press,  nor  the  private  press  are  things  new  under  the 
sun! 


CHAPTER  XIV 

FRENCH  types: 15OO-I8OO 

j4  LTHOUGH  the  first  press  set  up  in  Paris  in  1470 
/  %  employed  roman  types,  French  printing  for  some 
A  ^  years  thereafter  was  executed  from  gothic  fonts 
— lettre  de forme ^  lettre  de  somme^  and  lettre  batarde  {Jig.  135). 
This  press — a  private  venture  of  two  scholars — could  not, 
at  the  moment  of  its  foundation,  exert  sufficient  influence 
by  its  use  of  roman  fonts  to  overcome  the  custom  of  em- 
ploying, and  the  prejudice  in  favour  of,  gothic  types.  In 
the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  roman  letter 
again  asserted  itself,  and  gothic  characters  were  no  longer 
the  exclusive  use  of  French  printing-houses.  This  was  due 
largely  to  the  influence  of  that  singular  gen ius,Geofroy  Tory 
of  Bourges,  "who  was  at  the  forefront  of  all  progress  made 
in  books,  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century." 
He  was  at  once  poet,  translator  and  critic,  artist  and  work- 
man, dreamer  and  reformer.  He  had  been  a  traveller  in 
Italy  and  was  deeply  moved  by  the  Renaissance  spirit.  He 
wrote,  printed,  and  published  books ;  he  designed  type  in 
which  to  print  them,  and  ornaments  with  which  to  adorn 
them.  He  reformed  French  orthography.  He  was  a  prime 
mover  in  introducing  roman  types  and  made  innovations  in 
the  arrangement  of  title-pages.  In  short,  he  was  a  kind  of 
divine  jack-of-all-trades.  His  famous  Champjieury,  begun 
in  1523,  was  published  in  1529.  It  is  one  of  the  important 
books  in  the  history  of  letter  design;  and  Tory  was  re- 
warded in  1530  for  its  production  with  the  title  of  impri- 
meur  du  roi.  Almost  every  one  of  his  publications  was 
charming,  and  his  decorations  for  them,  and  for  the  books 
of  other  printers,  the  last  word  in  distinction.  Tory  is  im- 
|K)rtant  to  us  because  of  his  part  in  fostering  the  fashion 


Lettres  de  Forme. 

CLnttita  e  ejc  parte 
tuaftcomutattone^ 
fienDaleantp?tben'/ 
m^t  til  comtmitatto 
titpttatummtiuoit 
conctlioftierit  inter/ 
nicta*  6eue?aliter  t / 
taftenea^g^cfimU' 
tattones^  p?ebeni:ia^ 
De  ture  (itii  no  put 
pferti  ciipactToepm/ 
iCfa :  qcirca  fpualia 
S)f  contra  fpualibuis^ 


Ancienne  Batarde. 

dEjD  tdtc  me^mc  que 
Sott6  tttefttzetee  ,  ot)  So'' 
mefttrc:a»  i£t  pottrquo^ 
re^atSe  ttt  fe  fefltt  et) 
foeif  be  tot)  f:ete  (i  tu  ne 
^016  point  5ne  pouftje 
qttt  eft  et)  tot)  oeif*  £)tt 
corflent  bte  tu  a  toti  f  :ete, 
ftere  permet5  que  ie  tire 
pore  tie  t5  oeif  Sr|g  fe|Itt 
(i5otc^  5ne  pouCtre  ejl 
et|  tot)  oeiL  ^^pocrite, 
tecte  premiezettxetxt  fa 
pouftre  ^ote  tie  tot)  oetf 
(I  aSoticquee  tu  Settae  a 
ttret  tc  feftu  ^0:0  b  CoeiC 
be  tot)  ftere* 


Lettres  de^  Somme. 

i3!2>  noftraitt  nouctic  audt^nttam  pcis 
uenilTe  qu(?t)  cum.'R.Iaiciie  lator  ptefen^ 
tjum  ab,  XO.  mutuutn  recipeie  voliiif: 
fct:  creditot  ne  per  canon?  corra  rfura^ 
tioo  c»irum  poffet  in  poflcrum  couendi 
Domoo  1  oluia0  rcccpit  ab  code  ttrulo 
emptionio  :  cam  rcueta  cuncrud  rfuraj 
li'  asc:cr:  qu&paret  e;tr  coquo&cresiroj 
aebftoripromifitquoft  qiiicumqueafcp- 
tcnio  vfque  ad  noacnium  darct.  I)c,  rn-- 
ciaorarcotumquc  vi;:  dimi^ia  iufti  ptc; 
rii  oontinGcto^t-  ttomoa  eivo  reftirucrcr 
c  clival. 


135.  Lettres  de  Forme^  Lettres  de  Somme^  and  Ancienne  Botarde 
shown  by  Fourmer  le  jeune 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  189 

for  roman  letters,  thereby  displacing  gothic  types,  and  be- 
cause he  introduced  in  French  printing  the  accent,  apos- 
trophe, and  cedilla.  Epitaphs  are  notoriously  untrustworthy, 
but  even  making  due  allowance  for  that,  we  may  well  stand 
abashed  at  a  person  who  was  recorded  as  an  "accomplished 
Scholar  in  both  Latin  and  Greek,  most  devoted  Lover  of 
Letters,  very  expert  Printer  and  learned  Author,  inas- 
much as  he  wrote  elegant  Distichs  on  the  Parts  of  the 
House,  composed  some  humorous  Epitaphs  in  Latin  in 
very  ancient  Style,  translated  Treatises  of  Xenophon,  Lu- 
cian,  and  Plutarch  from  Greek  into  French,  taught  Phi- 
losophy at  Paris  in  the  College  of  Burgundy,  was  the  first 
Man  to  discuss  seriously  the  Art  of  Printing,  described  the 
Forms  of  the  Letters,  or  Characters,  of  the  Alphabet,  taught 
Garamond,  Chief  of  Engravers,  and  always  performed  the 
Duties  of  a  good  Man."  Tory  was  born  about  1480,  and  died 
in  1533.' 

The  first  sixty  years  of  the  sixteenth  century  may  be 
considered  the  Golden  Age  of  French  typography.  The 
reign  of  FrangoisI — from  1515  to  1547 — contributed  to 
the  quickening  of  intellectual  progress  and  brought  greater 
refinement  into  daily  life.  The  Italian  campaigns  of  his 

'  Tory's  Chamfifleury  is  not  readily  accessible,  but  the  translation  of  Au- 
guste  Bernard's  Geofroy  Tory,  issued  by  Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  in 
1909,  has  delightful  reproductions  of  Tory's  designs  and  initials,  redrawn 
by  Mr.  Bruce  Rogers.  A  charming  series  of  borders  to  Books  of  Hours  on 
pp.  101-1 17,  two  sets  of  magnificent  decorative  initials  (pp.  186,  187,  188, 
190,  and  191),  and  the  Greek  and  roman  alphabets  (shown  on  pp.  194  and 
195)  should  be  noted.  While  not  a  complete  collection  of  Tory's  designs,  the 
book  gives  a  good  idea  of  the  scope  of  his  work. 

Tlie  original  French  edition  of  Bernard's  book — Geofroy  Tory,  Peintre 
et  Graveur,  Premier  Imfirimeur  Royal,  Reformateur  de  V  Orthografihe  et 
de  la  Tyfiografihie  sous  Franqois  V  —  was  published  in  Paris  in  1857.  Its 
author  was  formerly  an  employee  of  the  Didots,  and  the  expense  of  its  pub- 
lication was  borne  by  Ambroise  Firmin  Didot.  An  excellent  notice  of  Tory 
is  given  in  Lepreux's  Gallia  Tyfiografihica,  Serie  Parisienne  I,  Imfirimeurs 
du  Roi,  Pt.  1,  pp.  505  et  seq. 


190  PRINTING  TYPES 

reign,  and  of  previous  reigns,  had  much  to  do  with  this. 
For  though  the  military  operations  of  France  in  Italy  be- 
tween 1494  and  1525  were  of  slight  political  or  territorial 
value,  the  influence  of  Italy  on  the  Gallic  mind  —  the  im- 
pression of  its  beauty  and  art  and  science  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  conviction  of  its  spiritual  and  social  rottenness  on  the 
other — was  of  immense  and  lasting  value  in  bracing  the 
morals  and  stimulating  the  artistic  faculties  of  the  French. 
Like  some  of  his  predecessors,  Francois  loved  Italian  art, 
and  imported  Primaticcio,  Da  Vinci,  Del  Sarto,  and  Cellini 
to  adorn  Fontainebleau.  Things  Italian  were  fashionable  at 
court,  and  the  court  in  turn  set  fashions  for  the  cultivated 
world  of  France.  It  was  natural  enough  that  books  should 
reflect  the  prevailing  mode — and  this  is  one  reason  why 
French  books  of  the  earlier  sixteenth  century  show  so  much 
Italian  feeling.  They  were  more  decorative  than  Italian 
\\ork,  and  more  delicate  and  elegant  in  effect;  and  in  this 
they  showed  themselves  French.  But  the  Italian  influence 
was  there;  and  "this  invasion  of  foreign  germs  produced 
a  marvellous  blossoming  of  native  genius." 

Henri  Estienne,  head  of  the  famous  Estienne  family, — 
"the  Eternal  Honour  of  French  Typography," — who  worked 
in  the  last  years  of  the  fifteenth  century  (but  who  between 
1502  and  his  death  in  1520  producedover  a  hundred  books), 
and  his  son,  the  great  scholar-printer  Robert  Estienne,  hus- 
band of  Perette  Badius,  carried  over  into  the  sixteenth  century 
the  great  tradition  in  typography.  After  Henri  Estienne's 
death,  his  widow  (like  widows  of  many  French  printers,  for 
reasons  perhaps  economic  as  well  as  sentimental)  speedily 
married  Simon  de  Colines,  who  had  been  associated  with 
her  husband.  De  Colines'  beautiful  books  also  show  Italian 
feeling,  but  always  tempered  by  a  delicacy  of  execution  and 
nettete  of  effect  characteristic  of  the  French  artist.  Thev  were 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  191 

less  direct,  tolerant,  and  ample  than  Italian  books  of  the  same 
period,  and  "tighter" — more  consciously  workmanlike. 

Another  printer,  to-day  less  remembered,  w ho  did  beauti- 
ful work,  was  Michel  Vascosan.  He,  too,  uas  a  son-in-law 
of  Badius.  It  is  to  De  Colines,  to  Robert  Estienne,  and  to 
Vascosan  that  the  Parisian  press  of  that  period  owed  the  in- 
troduction of  the  chief  reforms  which  the  Aldine  press  had 
already  adopted,  namely,  disuse  of  gothic  types,  adoption  of 
handy  Jbrmats,  and  cheap  books  for  students.  To  De  Colines 
in  particular  is  attributed  the  use  of  italic  types  for  entire 
books,  and  the  execution  of  the  first  really  good  Greek  font 
with  accents,  a  decade  before  the  appearance  of  the  grecs  du 
roi.  Both  the  italic  and  Greek  fonts  appeared  in  1528,  and 
tradition  has  it  that  De  Colines  was  himself  their  designer. 
At  first  the  best  printers  were  often  type-founders  too,  al- 
though Garamond  merely  cut  and  cast  type  for  the  use  of 
others. 

Roman  and  italic  fonts  were  increasingly  employed  for 
all  parts  of  a  book  by  progressive  French  printers  of  this 
epoch;  as  in  Geofroy  Tory's  Champjieury  of  1529;^  Charles 
Estienne's  work,  De  Dissectione  Partium  Corporis  Humanly 
printed  at  Paris  by  Simon  de  Colines  in  1545  ;"  andKerver's 
Hypnerotomachie  ou  Songe  de  Poliphile  of  1546.^  Of  course, 
black-letter  books  modelled  on  Gothic  manuscripts  were  still 
produced  in  France  in  the  early  sixteenth  century — such 
Gothic  volumes  as  the  Horse  Beatx  Fuginis  adusum  Parisi- 
ensem,  printed  at  Paris  by  Gering  and  Rembolt  in  1502,*  or 
Hopyl's  magnificent  Missale  Diocesis  Colomends^  printed  at 
Paris  in  1514,^being examples;  thoughBooksof  Hours  were 
printed  by  Kerver  in  roman  type  in  the  earliest  years  of  the 
century.  Then  again,  books  in  a  style  transitional  between 

^  Druckschriften,  pi.  19.  ^  Ibid.,  pi.  98.  ^ Ibid.,  pi.  90. 

*i&f£/.,  pi.  68.  'i5/t/.,pl.  4. 


192  PRINTING  TYPES 

pure  "Gothic"  and  "Roman"  were  common  —  such  as  a 
Josephus  of  1514  (mentioned  later) — set  in  roman  letter, 
touched  up  with  lines  of  bold  lettre  de  forme.  For  many 
years  vernacular  romances  continued  to  be  set  in  a  lettre 
batarde^  and  such  work  was  not  much  influenced  by  cur- 
rent fashions.  Limits  of  space  compel  me  to  speak  chiefly  of 
work  by  "advanced"  men;  but  old  styles  of  printing  per- 
sisted along  with  it. 


Sixteenth  century  examples  of  French  printing  have  been 
selected  from  several  points  of  view.  I  have  wished  to  show 
a  certain  chronological  progression  in  typographic  styles 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  century;  to  men- 
tion particularly  famous  books  like  Champjieury,  or  the 
Songe  de  Pohphile;  and  to  exemplify  as  fully  as  possible  the 
beautiful  printing  of  men  like  the  Estiennes,  Badius,  De 
Colines,  Vascosan,  Le  Royer,  and  the  two  De  Tournes,  al- 
though these  books  do  not  show,  in  a  strict  sense,  progres- 
sion so  much  as  various  ways  of  utilizing  the  same  style. 

The  quarto  Quincuplex  Psalterium,  printed  by  Henri  Es- 
tienne  at  Paris  in  1509,  is  an  example  of  a  sixteenth  cen- 
tury book  composed  entirely  in  roman  fonts.  In  it  a  difficult 
problem  in  typography  has  been  cleverly  solved.  Three  ver- 
sions of  the  Psalms  in  Latin  are  presented  side  by  side, 
printed  in  a  roman  letter,  and  with  copious  notes — the  two 
remaining  versions  placed  in  a  sort  of  appendix  and  printed 
in  double  column.  It  is  a  book  somewhat  Italian  in  effect, 
but  has  elements  of  delicacy  which  are  purely  French;  for 
instance,  the  charming  little  ornaments  in  red,  which  fill 
out  broken  lines  in  the  columns  of  each  version,  a  device 
also  employed  in  the  Complutensian  Polyglot.  The  Psalms 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  193 

are  set  in  a  very  handsome  old  style  roman  font,  a  little 
more  modelled  than  Italian  characters  of  the  same  kind  and 
period.  The  notes  are  composed  in  a  smaller  size  of  much  the 
same  sort  of  roman.  The  work  is  printed  in  red  and  black 
throughout. 

In  the  same  year  that  Estienne  printed  this  Psalter, 
Thielman  Kerver  issued  at  Paris,  in  16mo,  a  Psalteriiim  .  .  . 
Firginis  Maiie  \sic\  arranged  by  St.  Bonaventura.  This 
beautiful  book  is  a  splendid  example  of  the  maniere  criblee. 
The  text  is  printed  in  lettre  batarde  in  red  and  black.  It  has 
ten  full-page  metal  cuts,  and  every  page  has  borders,  many 
"historiated."  The  descriptive  legends  in  these  borders  are, 
however,  printed  in  lettre  de  forme ^  and  some  opening  verses 
in  a  roman  letter.  Furthermore,  some  blocks  for  the  outer 
margins  of  pages  contain  no  "scenes"  at  all,  but  are  pieces 
of  distinctly  Renaissance  decoration.  At  first  sight  the  book 
appears  Gothic;  but  here  and  there  the  "Roman  invasion" 
is  evident.  This  Gothic  plan  with  Renaissance  details  was 
precisely  analogous  to  that  of  a  Parisian  church  of  the  pe- 
riod— St.  Eustache,  built  in  1532;  just  as  French  Books  of 
Hours,  printed  in  roman  type  with  borders  of  open  Renais- 
sance design  (such  as  Tory's),  had  their  counterpart  in 
Italian  "classical"  churches — of  which,  in  French  classical 
style,  Paris  later  on  had  various  examples. 

A  good  instance  of  a  book  transitional  between  Gothic  and 
Roman  is  a  Latin  edition  of  Flavins  Josephus,  published 
in  quarto  at  Paris  by  Frangois  Regnault  and  Jean  Petit  in 
1514.  The  printers  employed  for  the  text  a  roman  type  of 
regular  cut,  and  marginal  notes  are  set  in  this  same  size  of 
roman.  Displayed  lines  on  the  title-page,  and  titles  of  prin- 
cipal divisions  and  running-titles,  are,  however,  in  a  bold 
lettre  de  forme.  The  many  initials  used  are  mostly  of  Gothic 
design,  and  the  continuous  text  is  broken  by  gothic  para- 


194  PRINTING  TYPES 

graph  marks.  In  short,  all  the  details  are  Gothic  in  feeling. 
The  excellent  workmanship  and  consistent  plan  make  this 
book,  in  spite  of  the  mixture  of  t3'pes,  a  much  handsomer 
volume  than,  theoretically,  it  has  any  right  to  be, 

Tory's  Champjleury  (a  small  quarto)  was  printed  at  Paris 
in  1529.  It  is  divided  into  three  books.  The  first  is  a  dis- 
quisition on  language;  the  second,  illustrated  with  wood  en- 
graA'ings,  treats  of  the  origin  and  design  of  roman  letters, 
and  institutes  a  comparison  between  their  proportions  and 
those  of  the  human  face  and  figure;  the  third  contains 
Tory's  magnificent  roman  capital  letters,  in  alphabetical 
order,  designed  on  a  geometrical  framework  of  squares  and 
circles  —  on  the  order  of  similar  schemes  for  drawing  letters 
by  Albert  Diirer  and  others.^  At  the  end  is  a  series  of  al- 
phabets—  Hebrew,  Greek  capitals,  roman  capitals,  a"Ca- 
deaulx"  alphabet  (a  sort  of  free  Gothic  hand),  and  a  free 
rendering  of  alphabets  of  lettre  de  fonne  and  lettre  hatarde — 
with  a  few  words  in  each.  Of  the  remaining  alphabets,  the 
Lettres  Tourneures  and  Lettres  Fleuries  are  the  only  ones  that 
need  detain  us.  The  title-page  and  decorations  are  very  dis- 
tinguished. The  book  is  printed  in  heavy,  earlv,  unattrac- 
tive roman  type,  rough  in  design  and  execution,  and  solidly 
set,  without  much  attention  to  clearness  of  arrangement 
{Jig.  136).  Here  and  there  a  rather  crabbed  Greek  letter  is 
introduced.  Champjieury  is  a  famous  volume,  but  it  is  full 
of  learned  affectations,  and  it  is  difficult  to  read,  both  as  to  its 
matter  and  the  manner  of  its  printing. 

'  As  in  Diirer's  Vndemveysung  der  Messung  (1525)  and  Pacioli'sZ)^Z)n'?>7a 
Profiortione  (1509) ,  both  of  which  Toiy  criticizes.  For  an  analysis  of  Renais- 
sance roman  cajjital  letters,  see  the  publication  of  the  K.  K.  Osterreichisches 
Museum  fiir  Kunst  und  Industrie  —  ZJ/c  Initialen  der  Renaissance.  jVach 
den  Constructione7i  von  Albrecht  Diirer  herausgegebeii  von  Camillo  Side. 
.  .  .  Unter  Mitwirkung  von  Josef  Salb.  Vienna,  1B82.  It  is  illustrated  with 
examples  of  lettering  described. 


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FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  195 

An  edition  of  Les  Commentaires  de  Jules  C^^«r,  translated 
into  French  by  Estienne  De  Laigue  and  Robert  Gaguin, 
was  printed  in  1531  at  Paris  by  "Maistre  Pierre  Vidoue 
.  .  .  pour  honnestes  personnes  Poncet  le  Preux/  et  Galiot  du 
Pre,"  which,  though  set  in  one  font  of  roman  type  through- 
out, except  for  notes  and  the  headings  to  each  book  of  the 
Com7nentaires,  is,  none  the  less,  a  very  archaic  affair.  This 
is  because  its  roman  type  is  so  rough  in  cut,  the  block  initials 
are  so  heavy  in  design,  and  because  its  text  is  not  broken  up, 
paragraphs  being  indicated  by  florets,  which  are  also  used 
at  the  beginning  and  end  of  display  lines,  running-titles,  etc. 
Some  of  the  illustrations  are  earlier  in  style  than  the  book 
itself,  having  already  been  used  in  other  volumes.  Apart 
from  the  pictures,  the  book  reminds  one  of  Basle  rather  than 
of  Paris,  and  in  spite  of  the  roman  type  the  pages  have  an 
antique  air. 

Sixteenth  century  music  printing  owes  its  beginnings 
in  France  to  the  talents  of  Pierre  Hautin.  He  was  able  to 
improve  upon  earlier  Italian  music  printing  by  doing  away 
with  a  second  impression,  which  up  to  that  time  was  neces- 
sary. This  invention  was  taken  advantage  of  by  Pierre  At- 
taingnant,  son-in-law  to  Philippe  Pigouchet,  and  "printer  to 
the  King  for  music"  from  1538  to  1552.  He  issued  in  1532 
a  collection  of  twenty  Masses,  published  in  seven  divisions, 
the  first  of  which  is  entitled  Primus  Liber  viginti  Missarum 
Musicalium  tres  Missas  continens,  the  music  being  by  De 
Manchicourt,  Claudin,  and  Gascoigne.  Its  title-page,  re- 
peated for  each  division,  is  printed  in  four  sizes  of  lettre  de 
forme  beneath  an  elaborate  representation  of  the  celebration 
of  High  Mass,  and  surrounded  with  woodcut  borders.  This 
is  followed  by  a  dedication  by  Attaingnant  to  Cardinal  de 
Tournon,  chapel-master  to  Frangois  I,  faced  by  a  privilege, 

'•Ancestor  of  Georges  Lepreux,  author  of  Gallia  Tyfiografihica . 


196  PRINTING  TYPES 

printed  in  lettre  hatarde^  giving  Attaingnant  the  sole  right 
to  print  and  sell  books  musically  noted  or  in  tablature,  for 
a  term  of  six  years  from  June  18,  1531.  The  masses  which 
follow  are  printed  in  one  impression,  w  ith  the  words  beneath 
in  lettre  deforme^  the  notes  being  lozenge  shaped,  sometimes 
closed,  sometimes  open.  The  music  types  are  so  large  and 
bold  that  the  effect  of  these  great  pages  is  extremely  im- 
posing. The  volume  is  a  folio  of  530  pages  and  of  consid- 
erable rarity^  ifig-  137). 

The  De  Philologia  et  De  Studio  Litterarum  of  Guillaume 
Bude  is  a  quarto  book  printed  in  a  rough  roman  font,  and 
with  head-lines  in  small  capitals,  the  folios  —  in  roman  nu- 
merals— being  capitals  of  the  same  font.  The  first  two  lines 
in  the  titles  of  both  tractates  appear  to  be  cut  on  wood.  The 
initials — or  at  least  some  of  them  —  belong  to  a  famous 
alphabet,  but  are  coarsely  cut  and  badly  printed.  It  is  very 
Italian  in  manner,  but  not  a  handsome  book,  though  it  was 
printed  by  Josse  Bade  of  Asch  (better  known  as  Jodocus 
Badius  Ascensius)  at  Paris  in  1532.  Now  in  1535,  Robert 
Estienne  printed  another  quarto  book  by  the  same  author — 
De  Transitu  Helleiiismi  ad  Christianismum.  The  improve- 
ment is  remarkable.  The  type  is  a  suaver,  more  rounded 
font,  better  aligned  and  better  set.  Tory's  famous  initials  are 
used  and  are  very  brilliantly  printed.  The  head-lines  of  dedi- 
cations, and  of  Books  I,  II,  and  III,  are  composed  in  a  beauti- 
ful attenuated  roman  letter,  in  a  line  of  capitals  and  two  lines 
of  lower  case.  The  title-page  is,  like  those  of  many  Estienne 
titles,  badly  managed  and  unattractive,  largely  because  of 
the  sprawling  Estienne  device.  Yet  the  book  is  much  more 
workmanlike,  and  shows  an  immense  improvement  over 
Badius'  edition  of  Bude's  De  Philologia.  Robert  Estienne 
printed  many  books  in  small  format,  sometimes  in  italic  and 

'  A  copy  of  tliis  book  is  iii  tlie  Boston  Athenaeum. 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  197 

sometimes  in  roman.  In  his  nine-volume  edition  of  Cicero's 
Opera^  published  in  1543,  he  first  makes  use  of  the  fine  italic 
which  he  had  cut  in  imitation  of  the  Aldine  character. 

In  the  King's  Library  at  the  British  Museum,  Jean 
Ruel's  De  Natura  Stirpium  Libri  Tres  is  exhibited  as  typical 
of  Simon  de  Colines'  work,  and  of  the  style  of  printing  that 
he  made  popular  in  France.  A  beautiful,  mellow,  Italianate 
roman  font,  in  a  large  size,  is  used  for  the  table  of  contents 
and  text.  A  clear  and  charming  font  of  the  same  character 
serves  for  the  index,  in  which  notice  the  interesting  shapes 
of  arabic  numerals.  Tory's  fine  crible  initials  begin  the  three 
great  divisions  of  the  book.  Each  chapter,  headed  by  its  title 
in  italic  and  its  number  in  the  same  line  (at  the  right),  also 
begins  with  a  block-initial,  the  letter  appearing  in  white 
on  a  crible  background  {Jig.  138).  Running-titles  are  set  in 
spaced  capitals,  and  the  exquisite,  refined  lower-case  roman 
letter,  much  used  by  De  Colines,  appears  on  the  title-page 
and  at  the  beginning  of  each  book.  A  word  should  be  said 
about  the  italic  used  in  the  preface.  Though  condensed,  it 
is  very  distinguished,  and  with  it  roman  capitals  are  em- 
ployed in  the  Aldine  manner  {Jig.  139).  I  know  few  books 
more  satisfying  throughout  than  this  noble  folio  volume — 
one  of  the  finest  of  sixteenth  century  French  books.  It  was 
printed  at  Paris  in  1536. 

This  italic  type  was  used  by  De  Colines  for  entire  books 
in  sv[i2i\\  Jormat — such  as  his  pretty  16mo  editions  of  the 
Odes  and  Epistles  of  Horace  of  1539,  and  of  Martial's 
Epigi-ams  of  1544.  Very  fine  in  folio  pages,  in  small  books 
the  italic  appears  a  much  cruder  character.  De  Colines' 
editions  of  Jean  Fernel's  Monalosphxrium  (1526),  the  same 
author's  Cosmo  Theoria  (1527),  and  Sacrobosco's  (Holy- 
wood's)  Textiis  de  Sphxra  (1521  or  1527),  are  interesting 
examples  of  his  treatment  of  scientific  books,  and  contain 


198  PRINTING  TYPES 

some  famous  decorative  borders,  diagrams,  and  initials  — 
some  of  the  latter  by  Tory/ 

A  fine  book  by  Robert  Estienne  that  recalls  the  Italian 
manner,  although  the  title-page  is  disfigured  by  Estienne's 
enormous  printer's  mark,  is  the  monumental  Cicero,  pub- 
lished in  four  folio  volumes  at  Paris  in  1538-39.  The  work 
has  just  that  quality  of  delicacy  in  its  running  head-lines 
of  large  lo\^'er-case  roman  which  makes  it  French  rather 
than  Italian,  though  the  type  is  almost  an  Italian  fifteenth 
century  character. 

Michel  Vascosan,  a  rival  to  the  Estiennes  in  perfection 
of  work,  brought  out  at  Paris  in  1543  a  Latin  edition  of 
Caesar's  Commentaries — a  distinct  advance  over  Vidoue's 
edition  of  1531.  Very  Italian  in  composition,  the  types, 
both  roman  and  italic,  are  more  modelled  and  easier  to  the 
ej^e  than  those  of  De  Colines — more  French,  in  fact,  and 
less  Italian.  A  title-page,  arranged  simply  in  roman  upper- 
case and  lower-case  letters,  in  one  or  two  sizes,  and  without 
the  usual  printer's  mark  (Vascosan  did  not  employ  one) ; 
titles  of  various  books,  as  well  as  running-titles,  set  in 
spaced  capitals ;  marginal  notes  composed  in  a  small  and 
condensed  italic ;  —  all  these  details  are  arranged  in  an  Ital- 
ian way,  but  the  types  have  a  markedly  French  look.  Some 
eleven-line  initials  designed  by  Oronce  Fine  are  worth  ex- 
amination, as  well  as  the  prefatory  matter,  which,  set  in 
italic,  contains  interesting  maps  and  some  illustrations. 

On  an  earlier  page  I  contrasted  Italian  and  French  print- 
ing by  describing  the  former  as  simpler,  ampler,  and  more 
monumental,  and  the  latter  as  more  conscious,  elaborate, 
and  elegant.  This  difference  cannot  be  better  shown  than 

'  De  Colines' printing  is  always  worth  study,  and  M.  Ph.  Renouard's  Dihlio- 
gra/ihie  den  Editions  de  Simon  de  Colines  (Paris,  1894)  is  an  excellent  guide 
for  this  purpose. 


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FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  199 

in  French  and  Italian  editions  of  Colonna's  H ypnerotoma- 
chia  PoHphili.  The  Italian  edition  was  printed  by  Aldus  in 
1499,  and  is  one  of  the  finest  early  Italian  illustrated  books. 
A  French  edition  was  published  by  Jacques  Kerver,  and 
printed  by  Louis  Baiibloom  (called  Cyaneus),  at  Paris  in 
1546,  entitled  Hypnerotomachie  ou Discours  du  Songe  de  Poli- 
phile.  Aldus's  edition  is  the  better  book  of  the  two,  because 
so  much  more  direct  and  simple  {^fig.  28).  Kerver's  edition 
is  fine  in  its  way — a  more  ambitious  piece  of  book-making, 
put  together  with  a  more  modern  feeling  {^jig.  140).  Not  only 
of  type  audits  arrangement — for  instance,  the  management 
of  title-pages  and  chapter  headings — is  this  true;  in  the 
French  version  of  the  Italian  illustrations  we  find  the  same 
tendency  to  complication  and  over-refinement.  The  initials 
in  the  French  edition  are  exceedingly  distinguished — a 
famous  series,  often  reproduced. 

A  French  scientific  book  that  has  great  charm  is  Jacques 
Focard's  Paraphrase  de  V Astrolabe^  printed  at  Lyons  in  1546 
by  Jean  de  Tournes  I,  in  a  charming  italic,  with  side-notes 
in  roman,  and  full  of  attractively  rendered  illustrative  draw- 
ings and  diagrams.  The  prefatory  address  is  composed  in 
a  delicate  roman  letter.  It  is  followed  by  an  alphabetic 
table  set  in  italic,  a  table  of  chapters,  etc.  Then  the  book 
proper  begins  with  a  fine  initial.  The  subject  of  each  chap- 
ter is  displayed  in  roman,  the  text  is  in  italic.  Each  defini- 
tion is  set  in  spaced  small  capitals,  and  when  necessary 
elucidated  by  a  marginal  diagram.  Elaborate  and  exquisite 
illustrations  of  the  astrolabe  and  its  parts  are  supplied. 
They  are  the  work  of  Bernard  Salomon  —  his  earliest  asso- 
ciation with  the  printer  De  Tournes.  The  book  is  beauti- 
fully complete  in  plan,  and  the  plan  beautifully  achieved.^ 

In    1556,   Vascosan   printed  a  mathematical  book  by 

*  A  copy  is  in  the  Bowditch  Collection,  Boston  Public  Library. 


200  PRINTING  TYPES 

Oronce  Fine,  De  Rebus  Mafhejnaticis,  hactenus  desideratis^ 
in  four  books.  The  title-page  shows  some  splendid  lower- 
case letters.  An  opening  address  is  set  in  a  noble  font  of 
roman,  followed  by  verses  in  a  smaller  size  of  the  same 
font,  and  in  a  well-cut  Greek  character.  The  various  propo- 
sitions are  composed  in  roman,  with  explanations  set  in  an 
exquisitely  clear  italic.  The  diagrams  are  a  charming  fea- 
ture of  the  book.  They  are  drawn  to  the  width  of  the  page, 
and  blanks  within  them  often  contain  fanciful  little  florets 
of  solid  black,  or  with  cross-hatched  leaves — probably  with 
the  practical  aim  of  saving  the  diagrams  from  too  heavy 
impression.  The  book  is  a  masterpiece  of  restrained  style, 
through  the  beauty  of  its  types  and  the  elegance  of  their 
arrangement.  The  readability  of  its  italic  comes  about 
through  its  evenness  of  line  {Jig.  14l). 

A  Paris  edition  of  a  book  on  the  same  subject  as  Focard's 
work,  L' Usage  de  V Astrolabe^  by  Dominicque  Jacquinot 
(second  edition),  printed  by  Guillaume  Cavellat  in  1558, 
and  Les  Principes  d"* Astronomic  et  Cosmographie^  translated 
from  the  Latin  of  Gemma  Frisius,  issued  at  Paris  by  the 
same  printer  in  1557,  are  examples  of  like  books  in  small 
format.  The  first  is  printed  in  roman,  the  second  in  italic. 
Both  are  agreeable  Httle  volumes — especially  the  latter  — 
and  show  an  attractive  way  of  printing  scientific  hand- 
books. 

Estienne  GrouUeau's  French  edition  of  Les  Sept  IJvres 
de  Flavins  Josephus  de  la  Guerre  et  Captivite  des  Juifz.,  trans- 
lated by  D'Herberay,  was  printed  in  Paris  in  1557.  It  is  a 
great  contrast  to  Regnault  and  Petit's  edition  of  Josephus, 
and  a  much  more  modern  volume,  though  it  falls  short  in 
style  of  books  by  De  Colines  and  Vascosan.  A  roman  type, 
less  classical  and  more  "old  style"  than  we  have  seen 
hitherto,  is  used  for  the  text,  which  is  unbroken  by  para- 


133 


LE     SECOND     LIVRE    DE     L'HYPNERO- 
TOMACHIE     DE    POLIPHILE: 

AuquelPo]ia6cluy,rYn  nprcsl'autrejracomptent  Icsellrangesauanturcs. 
&  diucrs  fuccez  dc  leurs  amours. 


En  ce  premier  chapitre  Polia  declaire  de 

QJ-ELE   RACE    ELLE    EST    DESCENDVE,  ET 

.  commelauillcdeTreuizfrt  edifice  par  Jcs  ancefires.Vuis  en 
quele  manierc  ?oliphi!e  deuint  amoureux  d'elle, 

E  peude  grace  que  voustrouuerczcn  mon  par- 
]er( nobles  Nymphes  &  fingulieres)  vous  fera 
perdregrandepartiedu  plaifir  qui  pouroic  ellrc 
enrhiftoirequevousdemadezaouyncaric  fuis 
feurequenuvoixfembleiaen  cefle  compagnie 
ditiine  le  cry  d'vn  Cormorant  entre  le  chant  dcs 
Roil'ignoIz.Neantmoins  le  defir  que  i'ay  do- 
beyr  a  voz  requeues  gracfeufes  ,  que  ic  tien 
pourcommandemens,me  fera  prendre  vne  hil- 
ble  hardieiTe  de  deuifer  en  voz  prefences  fans 
auoirrefpeda  mon  infuffifancercar  certainement  vous  meritezd'entendrece 
difcoursparvnelanguepluseloqucteque  la  micnne,pourperuenirareflfed 
de  voftre  intcntion.Tant  y  a, que  ie leray  grandement  contence  5s:  fatisfaicle 
en  monefpritjfi  par  mon  parler(combicn  qu'il  foit  lourd  &  ma!  aprisj  ie  vous 
puis  donner  aucune  recreation;&  efpere  que  ma  promptitude  a  vous  obey  r, 
pourra  bien  cftacer  toutes  les  faultcs  qui  me  pcurroient  interuenir  en  ce  hi' 
lant.Puis qu'il  vousplaift(donques)entedre I'origme de mes anceftres,  &  ma 
deftinee en  amours, laquelleaumoyendemabafrccondition,n'apeu  perue- 
Jiir  a  la  haulteur  de  voftre  cognoiirance,pource  que  petite  chandelle  ne  peulc 
rendrcgrandelumiereriem'en  acquiderayleplus  brief  qu'il  mefera  polfi- 
bIe,vous  fuppliant  que fi  ce  n'eft  fi  proprement  comme il  ell  requis  pour  voz 
prefences,il  vousplaifeexcuferrimbecillited'vne  femme  tcrreftre,pcu  exer-. 
citeeentelz  a^aires.Et  toy  fainde  fontaine  ou  repofent  les  facrccs  oidon- 
nances  des  fecretz  de  la  grand  deefle  noftre  maiftrefle/ur  les  riues  de  laqueU 
leie  fuis prefentementafl'ife,entretantde  Nymphes  &  Deefles  Heroiques, 
les  vifagesdefquellesieveoynayuenientfigurez  dedans  tesclaircsvndesjdoc 
tu  es  plus  a  honorertpardone  moy  fi  ie  ne  te  puis  rcgarder  my  autres  tes  fem- 
blables  en  liqueur,que mes  yeux  ne  fondent  en  larmes,  pource  qu'cntre  mes 
predecelfeurs fen  eft'troiiue'de telz,qui  par  difpofition  diuine ont ellc  muez 
en pareilles fources,comme iadiz aduint  a  la miferable  Dirce, premieremenC 
attacheealaqueue  d'vnToreau  fauuagepar  Zethus  &  Amphion,en  vcn- 
geace  de Icur  mere  Antiope ,  que  Ie  Roy  Lycus  leur  pere  auoit  repudiee  pour 


140.  Pag-e  of  Song e  de  Poliphile:  Kerver^  Paris^  1546  (reduced) 


PROPOSITIO     I. 

Blatis  duabus  lineis  redis  inxqualibus  : 
duas  medias  lincas  rcd:as.  Tub  eadcm  ra- 
tione  continue  proportionales  ,  inpriniis 
redderenotas. 

f  Q_V  A  RATIONE  MATHEMATICA 
hoc  dignij^imum  ac  utile prohlema  dijjoluatur^  nemo  ha^enus  fkffici- 
enter  tradidifje  uideturitametJiGmcorhm  quamplurimi,  no  aj^ernari' 
diphilofophi  atque  mathematiciy  ut  iViud  explicaret problemdj  quodm- 
hiduplicutio  dicituriUarils  acfuhtilibpis  admodum  inuentk,  easdem  li- 
nens proportionales  tentarint  exprimere .  Quemadmodum  ex  Eutocio 
Afcdlonita  Archimedis  interprets  &  GeorgioYaHaVlacentino ^  qui 
fingulorum  expojuerunt  adinuentiones  y  coUigere  baud  difficile  eft. 
NuUusfiquidem  eorundem  Gracorumauthorumoffendeturyquiin  dif- 
quirendis  eiufcemodi  lineis  proportion alih^ ,  uiam  aliquam  cenam 
ohtinuerit :  utpote,  qui  regulamentorum  quorundam  ddminiculoyten- 
tando  y  uelpotius  hinc  inde  palpitando  y  totiefque  conceptds  iterando 
defcriptiones  y  proprids  adinuentionum  traditiones fuj^eftaSyinexplica- 
hilefque  reddiderint .  Nox  igitur pr^fatas  lincas  reftas  y  inter  datas  ex- 
tremas  continue  proportionales  (ne  mathematica  fimulatque  Jiifcepti 
negot'ij  uioletur  integritas)  uia  haflenus  a  nemine  tentata  y  cxfidijiimis 
Geometricorum  elementorum  rudimentis  yYnultifariamy  ac prima  fi'onte 
con ahimur  redder e  notas :  idque p  otij^imum  illius  diuina proportionis 
ddminiculoyqua  data  linea  reflaJtcdiuidituryUt  in  ilia  medium  ^  ex- 
trema  continue proportionis  (qUiZ  in  trihus  ad  minus  uidetur  co?iftflere 
terminis)  inueniatur .  Hptiusprce terea  diuin^proportionis  beneficioy 
ut  quinque  regularium  corporumah  Euclide  conciliata  efi  harmonid: 
Jtc  ^  nos  honam  partem  eorumyqu^  in  ipjis  dejiderahantur  MathcmOr- 

a 

141.  Types  used  by  Vascosan^  Paris^  1556 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  201 

graphs.  Running  head-lines  are  arranged  in  capitals,  not 
quite  enough  spaced.  The  chapter  headings,  while  employ- 
ing the  handsome,  large  upper  and  lower-case  letters  then 
the  fashion,  drop  dizzily  to  a  minute  italic  for  a  second  line. 
Titles  of  chapters  occur  at  the  foot  of  pages  where  there  is 
not  room  for  a  single  line  of  text,  the  chapter  itself  begin- 
ning on  the  facing  page  or  even  over-leaf.  The  title-page 
decoration  is  attributed  to  Tory,  and  the  book  has  many  at- 
tractive illustrations  within  cleverly  designed  encadrements 
made  up  of  separate  pieces.  Ill-considered  in  detail,  and 
carelessly  thrown  together,  it  is  none  the  less  a  somewhat 
charming  book. 

Robert  Granjon  of  Paris,  publisher,  printer,  type-cutter, 
and  founder,  introduced  at  Lyons  about  1557  his  civilite 
types,  an  ingenious  rendering  of  a  Gothic  cursive  hand- 
writing in  vogue  at  the  time.^  These  types  attracted  atten- 
tion, and  Granjon  obtained  from  Henri  II  a  "privilege"  of 
ten  years'  duration  for  what  he  called  lettre  frangoyse  cPart 
de  main.  Its  first  use  was  in  Dialogue  de  la  Fie  et  de  la  Mort, 
a  French  translation  by  J.  Louveau  of  an  Italian  book  by 
Innocent  Ringhier.  Such  types  were  commonly  called  car- 
acteres  de  civilite^  because  early  employed  in  two  popular 
books  for  children  —  Louveau's  translation  from  Erasmus, 
La  Civilite  Puerile  distrihuee  par petitz  chapitres  et  sommaires^ 
and  Gilbert  de  Calviac's  Civile  Honestete  pour  les  Enfants^ 
avec  la  maniere  d'' apprendre  a  hien  lire^  prononcer  et  escrire^  etc. 
This  latter  book  was  printed  at  Paris  in  1559  by  Philippe 
Danfrie  and  Richard  Breton,  to  whom  Granjon  allowed  the 
use  of  these  fonts.  An  example  of  a  book  printed  in  civilite  is 
Sommaire  des  Singularitez  de  Pline^  a  thin  16mo,  printed  by 
Richard  Breton  at  Paris  in  1559,  in  two  sizes  of  this  type. 
Though  beautifully  arranged  in  the  style  of  a  manuscript 

StefFens's  Paleografihie  Latine,  pi.  119  a. 


202  PRINTING  TYPES 

of  that  date,  it  is  exceedingly  hard  to  read  {Jig.  142).  There 
were  many  forms  of  civil'ite  types,  and  an  interesting  one  is 
reproduced  {fig.  143),  though  obviously  of  a  much  earlier 
date  than  the  1742  specimen  of  the  Paris  founder,  Claude 
Lamesle,  from  which  it  is  taken. 

An  exquisite  book  is  the  folio  Livre  de  Perspective  de 
Jehan  Cousin  Senoiiois,  Maistre  Painctre  a  Paris^  printed  at 
Paris  in  1560  by  Jean  Le  Royer,  originally  an  engraver,  but 
appointed  by  Henri  II  Imprimeur  du  Roy  es  Mat/iematiques. 
Its  title-page  with  an  elaborate  and  sumptuous  printer's 
mark  is  followed  by  a  great  decorative  engraving,  present- 
ing the  five  Corps  Regidiers  de  Geometric  in  a  magnificent 
encadrement.  This  folio  is  printed  chiefly  from  a  mellow 
roman  font,  with  running-titles  set  in  a  large  lower-case 
letter  {fig.  144).  The  preface  and  the  author's  and  printer's 
addresses  to  the  reader  are  composed  in  a  beautiful,  lively 
italic  {fig.  145).  Le  Rover's  address  indicates  that  this  book 
was  his  first  venture  —  which  perhaps  accounts  for  the 
misfit  of  the  initial  in  the  passage  we  reproduce.  But  these 
decorations  and  initials  are  by  Cousin,  and  in  tone  blend 
delightfully  with  the  type ;  and  the  diagrams  of  perspec- 
tive, chiefly  engraved  by  Le  Royer,  are  exquisitely  ren- 
dered. The  book  is  beyond  praise  for  its  simplicity  and  ele- 
gance—  one  of  the  handsomest  volumes  of  its  time.  The 
reader  should  examine,  if  possible,  Le  Rover's  edition  of 
Ambroise  Pare's  Methode  Curative  des  Playes  et  Fractures  de 
la  Teste  Humaine.,  1561. 

The  Lyons  Press  at  this  period  did  work  of  great  dis- 
tinction. Claude  Paradin's  Alliances  Genealogiques  des  Rois 
de  France  is  an  example  —  and  a  book  where  an  enor- 
mously difficult  problem  is  successfully  surmounted.  In  this 

'  lliere  is  a  copy  in  the  Boston  Public  Library.  Cousin  was  a  painter,  sculf>- 
tor,  and  painter  of  glass,  besides  being  the  author  of  two  books  on  design. 


fvtmiti^  tinted  %r-  ^fiMC*, 


line  naiutcl  bijlomn 

,2<;rriMitj£)»CifMpifcn»<»p»C.<i.  f^)r'''2J  *''* 

S<.n  ftctnb'tLm  italic*  5h/«io«^c',j«  St^ 

«i«'iil.  vavt^^HCHH^^oASfto  /nicSiftb  ^  tim.  aui  fc' 
seMMtnC  /troMMOfC  ffaiz~  cvncAHtiir^w-  (La.  iceve'y 

Coit^  VOHSe^  Cc"  CDtl/iHMCB-  .  A.H  5t||oMj^  C.«« 


142.  Granjoii's  Civilitc:  Breton^  Paris^  1559 


Civilite  au  Corps  de  Gros  Romain  ^ 
Numero  XL IX. 

o  ^iCofet)  ft  ]l^^^     c>t  £a  Li2<iif<j ,  ttS^Kiunft,  aitffiicfv 

{yi2t  06  ctMAO  an  on  a  9itn  c>t  £a  vtmt  a^  tamt  £tvti2  j 
mtfmt  ft  ^-'^VoMiS'  avf^  ia  ^i^nbtnct  6t-,.  f^oHHtm?  tn 
vtcommanbaiion  f  ^^^^^cuS-  nt  f'CHftizwi:'^,  x)a&  an  ancnnt 
wti^foHMt  o  <tH^et  itKt  tnitzt  tn  ^cfr6  c^rtmGi?t,j3tn- 
o<TH^  aut  ^^^^0M(S-  ^  trFt<^5  ^iwfi  ^ow(S-  £a  iitnbrt'^ 
ftemce  ^t  CVo^Et  coftc. 

X^eut j-^^oMiP    ©one  ^i7dfc  f^rnf    od'dECOHfitct'ioH, 

auanb  mtfmt  *^^0Hi-  ftmft^  fbHiLmr^an&  i<i  d^am^i^t-y 

nt  ft  [aifff^  i3rt(S-  ncanm<im&  ^>cconvtvi ,  <|M^^t^  *^om(S- 
tn  iokit't^  •ftztmtiit'i^  an  mmni-  £a  couvtuiw^t. 

^ctnt^^'rtGo^  £t&  J)a£>\i&  can  ^-^'^oh&  coHtyntni 
lb  )^£h&  ,  ijon^  CrtTcCtL'  c^  <iwt  ia.  naiutzt  nb  ^bni  oa^  nni 
^aizoiffb  ,  H^  ^aiib&  cbla  jjowe  ft  izb(»b<^  ot  £a  C^<t- 
jt|Tc  ^*wn  i^^ibH  aui  *-^^ou(S-  pt(jrti?t)t  j  nt  forif^  la" 
mats-  '^t  f^  c^^mCet  <x^    otmt  "^tfTM. 

^,CCOMfwmtg-*^^^OM(S-  CL>  Jj^r^tl?  ft  filbttCb  >    OH    A^ 

ioat£bi2:     ot  aubCaub  c^oft     ot  Gon  tn  »?oh(5'  J)(Siiiani  : 

M  ^tGrtH 


143.  0/fi^  CiviliU from  Lamesle's  Epreuves  G^nirales  des  Caracteres 

Paris,  1742 


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FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  203 

folio  of  over  one  thousand  pages,  every  page  bears  a  coat 
of  arms — sometimes  two  and  three.  The  text  below  them 
varies  from  one  line  to  almost  a  full  page — except  where 
broken  by  half-titles  separating  the  different  Royal  Houses. 
Unity  of  effect — the  problem  in  this  case — is  arrived  at 
by  placing  the  arms  always  at  the  same  point  at  the  top  of 
the  page,  immediately  beneath  a  running-title  of  roman 
capitals,  and  by  beginning  the  text  always  at  a  given  point 
below  them,  leaving  the  lower  part  of  the  page  blank  or 
not,  according  to  the  amount  of  matter.  The  result  is  that 
a  book  containing  great  variety  of  text,  of  unequal  amount 
to  a  page,  appears  perfectly  "natural"  and  harmonious  be- 
cause unified  by  this  reiteration  of  position.  Practically  but 
one  font  of  a  robust  old  style  roman  is  used  for  the  text.  The 
heraldic  bearings,  which  avoid  monotony  by  being  designed 
with  great  reserve  and  frugality  of  line,  are  brilliantly  printed 
from  very  well  engraved  wood-blocks.  Jean  de  Tournes  I 
printed  this  book  in  1561.  His  work  always  deserves  study. 
In  1558  he  produced  a  beautiful  little  l6mo Biblia Sacra.The 
text  is  arranged  in  double  column  and  employs  a  clear  and 
delicate  roman  font;  a  very  exquisite  italic — no  doubt  Gran- 
jon's  —  being  used  for  the  prologue  to  each  book.  Decora- 
tions and  initials  are  brilliantly  designed  in  arabesque,  and 
the  illustrations  are  delightful  and  distinguished. 

La  Fita  et  Metamorfoseo  (P  Ovidio,  edited  by  Simeoni  and 
printed  by  Jean  de  Tournes  II  at  Lyons  in  1584,  was  a  re- 
impression  in  Italian  of  a  French  book  printed  in  1557^  by 
Jean  de  Tournes  I,  and  dedicated  by  its  author  to  Diane 
de  Poitiers.  It  is  adorned" with  exquisite  decorative  borders. 
The  delicate  illustrations  are  by  Bernard  Salomon  —  le  petit 
Bernard — one  of  the  most  distinguished  designers  of  the 
French-Italian  school.  The  type  beneath  its  pictures  is  the 

'  I  have  been  unable  to  see  a  copy  of  this  edition. 


204  PRINTING  TYPES 

point  to  notice,  however — the  delicate,  silvery  italic  of  Rob- 
ert Granjon  (designer  of  the  civilite  character),  who  worked 
at  Lvons  in  connection  with  Jean  de  Toiirnes  and  Sebastian 
Gryphius,  and  there  married  Antoinette  Salomon,  daughter 
of  the  designer.  From  1570  almost  all  Lyons  printers  used 
this  kind  of  italic  type/  This  volume  shows  the  delicacy  and 
charm  of  French  workmanship  in  a  fanciful  kind  of  book — 
a  veritable  gem  of  book-making.  Some  of  the  decorations 
used  by  De  Tournes  were  like  goldsmith's  work,  and  often 
had  a  niello-like  quality  which  was  characteristic  of  much 
Lyons  tvpographic  ornament  {Jig.  146). 

This  closes  our  consideration  of  the  books  of  an  unsur- 
passed epoch  in  French  printing. 

I  know  of  no  specimen  of  types  issued  by  any  sixteenth 
century  French  founder,"  but  a  celebrated  foundry — ac- 
cording to  Fournier  the  oldest  private  foundry  in  France — 
was  begun  in  the  sixteenth  century  by  the  Le  Be  family, 
"the  first  masters  of  which,"  Fournier  adds,  "being  of  an 
investigating  as  well  as  intelligent  turn  of  mind,  collected 
and  preserved  many  matrices  of  old  characters  which  were 
in  use  since  the  very  beginning  of  printing." 

The  first  Guillaume  Le  Be  was  born  at  Troyes  in  1525. 
Between  1545  and  1550  he  was  a  pupil  of  Robert  Estienne. 
He,  too,  was  under  the  spell  of  Italy,  for  he  had  been  both 
at  Rome  and  at  Venice  to  perfect  himself  in  his  work.  He 
cut  Oriental  fonts  with  ability.  Hebrew  was  his  specialty, 
and,  but  twenty-one  years  old  when  he  cut  his  first  Hebrew 
types,  during  a  period  of  thirty  years  he  engraved  fourteen 
variedes  of  this  character.  He  perfected  Hebrew  fonts  for 

'  Delacolonge  specimen,  pp.  108,  109,  and  111. 

'  Many  Greek  and  Hebrew  "Alphabets"  wei-e  published  at  Paris  in  the  six- 
teenth century  ;  but  these  were  not '  *  specimens ' '  of  Greek  and  Hebrew  types, 
as  might  appear,  but  little  elementary  grammars  for  students. 


S    E    C    O    N    D    O. 


"Poi  ch'ha  'PiiHa  il  Ceflonpoih  da  bnnda 
Con  ilfigituol,  chefen"^  madre  e  nnto: 
^lle  figiie  di  Cecrripe  comiXnda 
Cu,liodir,  he  fcoprir  cio  ci'liaceUto. 
^glaura^  intentu  all'opera  nefiiida, 
Sol'al  dir  dclla  'Dea  nun  ha  miratoy 
Scuopre  la  ceTUiC^ifior  difitaintent'wr 
Troua  vnjhiicitil  CO  i  piedi  di  'Dragi 


c    5 


146.  Robert  Granjoii's  Italic:  De  Tournes^  Lyons ^  1584 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  205 

Robert  Estienne,  and  was  engaged  to  cut  that  needed  for  the 
Plantin  Polyglot  Bible.  Le  Be  also  engraved  music  for  Leroy 
and  Ballard,  the  earliest  privileged  Parisian  music  printers. 
Besides  the  accumulation  of  his  own  handiwork,  Le  Be 
bought  in  1561,  the  year  of  Garamond's  death,  most  of  the 
punches,  matrices,  etc.,  of  Garamond's  types,  and  almost 
all  the  material  of  his  foundry,  of  which  he  was  named  ap- 
praiser. At  his  death  in  1598,  Le  Be  was  the  first  engraver 
of  Oriental  characters  in  the  world. 

Le  Be  had  a  son  of  the  same  name  and  business  (the 
correspondent  of  Moretus),  who  added  to  the  collection  of 
types  through  his  efforts  and  researches;  and  he  in  turn 
had  a  son  of  like  name  and  occupation,  who  continued  the 
foundry  with  credit.  The  third  Le  Be  died  in  1685,  and  the 
foundry  was  managed  by  Claude  Faure  until  Madame 
Le  Be's  death  in  1707,  and  then  for  her  four  daughters  by 
Jean  Claude  Fournier,  pere^  its  director  for  over  twenty-five 
years.  About  1730  it  was  bought  by  his  eldest  son,  Four- 
nier Vaine^  who,  his  younger  brother  tells  us,  "sustained  by 
his  talents  the  reputation  of  this  celebrated  foundry,  com- 
bining the  art  of  type-cutting  with  that  of  type-founding." 

Of  the  Le  Be  foundry  I  know  of  no  specimen;  nor  did 
Fournier  Vaine  apparently  issue  any  after  he  acquired  it. 
This  is  surprising,  for  he  was  very  proud  of  his  ancient 
punches,  strikes,  and  matrices  of  types  by  Garamond,Gran- 
jon,  Le  Be,  Sanlecque,  and  others.  The  list  of  them  that  he 
gave  in  1757  showed  that  it  was  a  collection  in  which  any 
man  would  take  pride. 

§2 
In  the  seventeenth  century,  French  types  became  less  Ital- 
ian and  more  what  we  now  call  an  "old  style"  letter — by  no 
means  so  fine  a  character.  Some  of  the  larger  volumes  were 


206  PRINTING  TYPES 

splendid  in  their  way,  such  as  Courses  de  Testes  et  de  Bague 
faites  par  le  Roy  .  .  .  en  Paymee  1662,  printed  in  1670  by 
Sebastien  Mabre-Cramois}',^  or  L.  J.  de  Boullencourt's  De- 
scription Generale  de  P Hostel  Royal  des  Invalides^  printed  at 
Paris  byDesprez  in  1683."  Thebest  of  these  books  were  per- 
haps printed  from  types  in  thelmprimerie  Roy  ale ;  and  were 
imposing  rather  than  tasteful— grandiose,  and  as  uncom- 
fortable as  grandiose  things  have  a  habit  of  being.  Smaller 
French  books  of  this  epoch  were  also  somewhat  discourag- 
ing in  effect.  Many  of  them  were  copies — and  not  very  good 
ones — of  the  compact  volumes  of  the  Elzevirs.  While  quite 
modern  in  make-up,  there  is  nothing  about  such  books  of 
much  interest  to  a  printer.  French  seventeenth  century 
printing — heavy  in  type  and  in  decoration — was  indeed 
precisely  like  the  art  of  the  time ;  in  short,  belonged  to  the 
pompous  period  of  Louis  XI\^  As  the  century  closed,  types 
became  more  "modelled,"  but  were  still  somewhat  archaic 
in  their  general  effect. 

An  early  seventeenth  century  folio  which  possesses  consid- 
erable style,  composed  in  type  something  like  characters 
used  by  Plantin,  is  the  Civitas  Feri  sive  Morum  of  Delbene. 
This  is  printed  in  a  large  and  very  effective  roman  char- 
acter. Italic  of  the  period  is  emploved  for  its  prefatory  verses, 
this  italic  having  all  the  characteristic  swash  letters.  Tail- 
pieces and  head-pieces  are  introduced,  cut  on  wood,  but  the 
handsome  title-page  and  large  illustrations  are  engraved  on 
copper.  In  form  of  type,  in  type-setting,  and  in  imposition, 
the  book  has  distinction.  It  was  printed  at  Paris  by  Ambrose 
and  Jerome  Drouart,  in  1609. 

Sebastien  Cramoisy  of  Paris  was  a  great  figure  among 
printers  of  his  day,  and  his  name  appears  on  the  Obser- 

^ Druckachriften,  pi.  39.  '  Bid.,  pi.  40. 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  207 

vatio  Apologetica^  etc.,  of  Gabriel  Trivorius, — royal  histori- 
ographer to  Louis  XIII, — printed  in  1631.  Cramoisy  was 
afterwards  appointed  first  director  of  the  Imprimerie  Roy- 
ale  du  Louvre;  but  he  also  printed  on  his  own  account,  and 
employed  other  men  to  print  for  him.  This  book  is  a  good 
specimen  of  an  early  seventeenth  century  quarto.  The  ru- 
bricated title-page  and  prefatory  Address  to  the  King  are 
printed  in  very  heavy,  roughly  cut  types,  and  an  Address  to 
the  Reader  in  a  smaller  size  of  unattractive  italic,  also  used 
elsewhere.  Chapter  heads  and  running-titles  are  in  spaced 
capitals  and  small  capitals.  The  index  to  the  contents  of  the 
chapters  is  set  in  an  italic,  and  the  text  of  the  book  is  com- 
posed in  roman  old  style  —  fine  fonts  which  appear  to  be 
those  of  Garamond.  In  spite  of  these  types,  fine  paper,  am- 
ple margins,  many  initial  letters,  and  distinguished  impo- 
sition made  more  attractive  by  red  hand-ruling,  the  effect 
of  the  typography  is  antique  and  tasteless,  owing  to  press- 
work  that  is  very  poor  indeed. 

"In  1640  a  Parisian  writing-master  named  Pierre  Mo- 
reau,"  says  Fournier,  "endeavoured  to  make  punches  and 
matrices  of  some  new  types,  in  the  style  of  handwriting. 
Of  these  he  made  four  kinds,  grosse  SL-nd  petite  batarde,  lettres 
rondes^  and  another  batarde  brisee.  He  dedicated  the  first 
proofs  of  them,  in  1642,  to  Louis  XIII,  who  encouraged  the 
talents  of  this  new  typographer  by  giving  him  the  post  of 
Printer  in  Ordinary  to  the  King,  which  he  enjoyed  for  some 
time ;  and  he  printed  several  works  with  the  aforesaid  char- 
acters. The  taste  for  this  kind  of  printing  having  gone  by, 
as  it  was  of  no  general  typographical  utility,  Moreau  was 
obliged  to  give  up  his  occupation."  Moreau's  types  are  clev- 
erly shown  in  J.  Baudoin's  hes  Saintes  Metamorphoses  ou  Les 
Changemens  mlraculeux  de  quelques  grands  Saints.  .  .  .  A 
Paris,  en  V Imprimerie  des  nouveaux  Caractheres  [sic]  de  P. 


208  PRINTING  TYPES 

Moreau^  M^  Escrivam  Jure  a  Paris,  y  Imprimeiir  ord^^  du 
Roy. . . .  1644.  In  this  book  the  type  (for  once)  really  appears 
to  be  writing  —  a  careful  and  lively  copy  of  the  agreeable 
calligraphy  of  the  period.  The  ornaments  used  with  it  are 
reproductions  of  writing-masters'  scrolls  and  whimsical  fig- 
ures, and  here  and  there  heavy  flourishes  are  added  to  words 
to  produce  a  further  illusion  of  penmanship  {Jjg.  147).  The 
clever  arrangement  of  notes,  the  verse  in  a  smaller  size  of 
type,  the  black-letter  introduced  in  the  dedicadon,  and  the 
interesting  figures  used  for  folios  should  be  noticed.  Six  dif- 
ferent fonts  are  used  in  the  volume.  It  is  a  "trick  book,"  but 
so  well  done  that  one  enjoys  being  fooled.  An  edition  of  Vir- 
gil's jEneidoi  1648  contains  examples  of  all  Moreau's  fonts. 
Moreau  has  the  distinction  of  having  designed  raised  letters 
for  the  use  of  the  blind,  but  his  plans  are  said  to  have  failed 
through  lack  of  money  to  develop  them. 

The  great  Paris  Polyglot  of  Gui  Michel  Le  Jay,  published 
in  ten  enormous  folio  volumes  in  1645,  falls  into  this  period. 
Its  chequered  history  and  that  of  some  of  its  exotic  types 
neither  belongs,  nor  can  be  told,  here ;  but  its  typography 
should  be  examined  as  an  example  of  what  could  be  done 
then  and  what  we  should  not  dare  to  attempt  now  !  Taking 
seventeen  years  to  complete,  it  was  nearly  the  ruin  of  Le 
Jay  —  Polyglot  Bibles  being  an  expensive  business  for  their 
promoters.  It  was  printed  by  Antoine  Vitre,^  imprimeur  du 
ro?  pour  les  /a?ig-ues  orienfa/es,  and  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished seventeenth  century  printers,  ranking  with  Cra- 
moisy  and  the  later  Estiennes.  Apart  from  the  printing  of 
the  Le  Jav  Polyglot,  Vitre  is  now  chiefly  remembered  for 
his  purchase  of  the  collection  of  Oriental  types  formed  by 
Savary  de  Breves,  French  Ambassador  to  Constantinople 

'  'ITie  mag^iificent  engraving,  by  Morin,  of  Philippe  de  Champaigne's  portrait 
of  Vitre  is  familiar  to  lovers  of  fine  prints.  Vitrc  died  in  1674. 


^iJihlc  Salt  aprcj  jcl  nwrt ,  en  let 
pcrjonnc ,  iantoi' luj'mcjnjc  ,(iiic 
^'ja  Jcmmc  ^vJc  jucnfanj. 


cJiua: pcrjbfjncj  dc  condition^ 
diucrjcmcnt  aMligccj.^mm. 

^ oiijy  dont  la  condition  cjt  c/jan" 
gee  ,  ^  qui  dej  pluj  haute j  proj- 
peiiteZ  de la  vie,  vouj  vojet.  tombeL 
en  dej  di J  a  race  J  qui  vouj  la  J^oni 
hairi^u  lieu  at  vouj  Kfacheroi^  ccj 
pertej ,  conjoleZ-voiu-en  plujtojt, 
%y  led  tenet,  pour  de  purJ  eJ^etj 

147.  Moreav!s  Calligraplnc  Types^  Paris,  1644 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  209 

and  Rome.  This  purchase,  made  fo^  Louis  XIII  by  Riche- 
lieu's direction,  involved  Vitre  in  serious  monetary  troubles, 
as  he  was  not  reimbursed  for  twenty  years.  These  types  form 
the  basis  of  the  collection  of  Oriental  types  now  in  the  Im- 
primerie  Nationale. 

Among  seventeenth  century  architectural  folios,  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  is  Roland  Freart's  Parallele  de  P Archi- 
tecture Antique  et  de  la  Moderne^  printed  by  Exime  Martin 
at  Paris,  in  1650.  The  types  used,  though  of  a  somewhat 
archaic  design,  are  picturesque  and  full  of  movement; 
and  they  are  arranged  with  great  sense  of  style.  The  full 
pages  of  italic  and  roman  are  specially  good,  and  the  typog- 
raphy is  really  aided  by  beautifully  engraved  architectural 
and  decorative  copper-plates.  It  is  a  very  superb  book  in  the 
best  manner  of  a  poor  typographical  period.  A  later  edition, 
published  by  Emery  and  others  at  Paris  in  1702,  is  by  no 
means  so  well  printed.  It  was  translated  into  English  by 
John  Evelyn. 

Pierre  Le  Petit,  who  was  printer  to  the  French  Academy 
in  1643,  and  produced  its  first  dictionary,  was  son-in-law 
to  Jean  Camusat,  first  printer  to  the  Academy ;  and  married 
his  daughter  Denise,  the  original  of  one  of  the  most  de- 
lightful engraved  portraits  in  the  iconography  of  printing. 
An  excellent  example  of  good  mid-seventeenth  century  work 
is  Le  Petit's  edition  of  Vies  de  Plusieurs  Saints  Illiistres  de 
Divers  Swales;  Choisies  ^  traduites  .  .  .  par  Monsieur  Ar- 
nauld  (PAndilly^  one  of  the  celebrated  group  connected  with 
Port-Royal.  It  is  a  folio,  printed  from  very  handsome,  deli- 
cate old  style  type,  more  elegant  and  niaig^-e  in  effect  than 
is  usually  found  in  books  of  this  period.  The  title-page  is 
set  in  the  usual  seventeenth  century  massive  old  style  cap- 
itals in  lines  alternately  red  and  black,  and  bears  Le  Petit's 
printer's  mark,  a  relief  engraving  on  metal.  The  ornaments 


210  PRINTING  TYPES 

and  large  floriated  initials  cM:curring  at  the  beginning  of  each 
new  Life  are  cut  on  wood.  The  type-setting  of  the  book  is 
ver}'  simple.  The  title  of  the  Life  of  each  saint  is  set  in  va- 
rious sizes  of  displayed  old  style  capital  letters  like  those 
on  the  title-page,  and  chapter  headings  and  running-titles 
are  arranged  in  roman  capitals,  much  spaced.  The  argu- 
ments to  each  chapter  employ  a  clear  and  handsome  italic 
— a  very  elegant  font  used  with  great  effect  in  the  Table  of 
Chapters.  This  well-printed  book  appeared  at  Paris  in  1664. 
Le  Petit  also  printed  a  splendid  edition  of  Arnauld  d'An- 
dilly's  (Euvres  Diverses  in  three  folio  volumes  in  1675. 

All  the  faults  —  there  were  not  many  virtues — of  the 
period  are  exhibited  in  Le  Theatre  de  P.  Comeille^  published 
in  two  folio  volumes  printed  at  Rouen,  but  sold  in  Paris  by 
(Vol.  I)  T.  Jolly  and  (Vol.  II)  G.  de  Luyne  in  1664.  Cum- 
brous in  form,  with  ungainly  decorations  from  wood-blocks, 
—  among  which  the  eternal  corbeille  de  Jieurs  appears  in 
swollen  shapes, —  with  displayed  lines  set  in  spaced  capitals 
in  all  kinds  of  sizes,  and  with  text  in  a  heavy  old  style  type, 
it  is  as  awkward  and  archaic  a  work  as  can  be  concei^■ed. 
There  were  quantities  of  like  books,  and  one  need  not  linger 
over  them. 

In  1667,  Claude  Barbin  of  Paris  published  Michel  Le 
Clerc's  French  metrical  translation  of  Tasso's  Gemsalemme 
Liberata  under  the  title  of  La  Hienimlem  Delivree.  It  is  not 
a  beautiful  book,  but  the  italic  used  for  the  text  of  the  trans- 
lation is  a  characteristic  lively  French  font  of  the  period, 
though  much  less  fine  than  sixteenth  century  italic.  What 
appear  to  be  marginal  notes  set  in  roman  type  on  the  outer 
margins  of  each  page  are  really  the  Italian  text  of  the  poem. 
The  introductory  type  matter  is  tasteless  and  heavy,  and 
engraved  plates  and  rough  woodcut  decorations,  consid- 
ered an  embellishment,  do  not  much  embellish. 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  211 

Bossuet's  Discours  sti?'  VHisto'ire  Universelle,  written  for 
the  Dauphin,  and  printed  at  Paris  in  1681  by  Sebastien 
Mabre-Cramoisy,  a  learned  man  and  an  excellent  printer,  is 
a  good  specimen  of  a  luxurious  seventeenth  century  book-. 
It  has  a  typographical  tide,  but  a  copper-plate  head-piece 
is  introduced  on  the  first  page  showing  Time  bearing  a 
shield  on  which  are  the  Dauphin's  arms,  and  the  text 
begins  with  an  engraved  initial  Q  supported  by  a  symbolic 
dolphin.  The  text-pages  are  set  in  handsome  old  style  type, 
with  wide  margins,  on  which  notes  appear  in  italic  (some- 
times in  double  column).  Running-tides  are  arranged  in 
capitals  and  small  capitals.  The  volume  ends  with  a  fine 
copper-plate  tail-piece.  Mabre-Cramoisy  was  grandson  of 
Cramoisy,  first  director  of  the  Imprimerie  Royale ;  was  first 
his  associate  and  then  became  sole  director  from  1669  to 
his  death  in  1687.  Like  his  grandfather,  he  printed  books 
on  his  own  account,  of  which  this  is  an  example.^ 

The  first  edition  of  Racine's  Athalie  was  issued  at  Paris 
by  Denys  Thierry  in  quarto,  in  1691.  A  title  set  in  the  old- 
est of  old  style  capitals,  an  enormous  woodcut  of  the  cus- 
tomary vase  of  flowers  beneath,  and  an  imprint  make  up 
the  opening  page.  A  preface  is  set  in  a  handsome  roman 
letter,  and  the  play  follows,  entirely  composed  in  a  large  and 
very  irregular  but  spirited  italic  font.  Names  of  characters 
are  arranged  in  spaced  capitals,  and  stage  directions  in  a 
minute  roman,  also  used  for  side-notes.  "Scenes"  are  sep- 
arated from  each  other  by  crowded  rows  of  "flowers."  The 
whole  performance  is  very  antique  in  style,  and,  though 
imposing,  tasteless. 

Finally,  for  an  example  of  ambitious  book-making  at  the 

Reproductions  of  the  characteristic  title-pages  of  Bossuet's  celebrated  fu- 
neral orations,  most  of  which  Mabre-Cramoisy  published,  are  shown  in  Le 
Petit' s  Bibliografihic  des  Princifiales  Editions  Originales  d'' Ecrivains  Fran- 
gais,  etc.,  pp.  401-415. 


212  PRINTING  TYPES 

end  of  the  century,  look  at  the  folio  Vetenim  Mathemati- 
corum  —  Athenceus,  Apollodorus,  and  others — printed  in 
1693  at  the  Imprimerie  Royale  (then  under  the  direction  of 
Jean  Anisson  i  from  manuscripts  in  the  Bibliotheque  Royale. 
I  mention  it  merely  to  contrast  it  with  the  much  finer  books 
on  similar  subjects  printed  in  the  preceding  century.  Em- 
ploying all  the  aids  known  to  luxurious  book-making  at 
that  dav,  it  utterly  fails  in  elegance  and  simplicity,  and  by 
the  same  token  belongs  to  its  epoch. 

The  second  important  foundry  in  France,  set  up  in  1596 
by  Jacques  de  Sanlecque,  may  be  accounted  a  seventeenth 
century  establishment,  although  no  specimen  was  issued 
from  it  until  the  middle  of  the  next  century.  The  first  San- 
lecque was  a  pupil  of  Le  Be,  and  like  him  made  a  spe- 
cialty of  Oriental  fonts,  cutdng  those  needed  for  the  Paris 
Polyglot  He  was  succeeded  by  a  son,  Jacques  II,  who  died 
in  1659,  the  widow  carrying  on  the  business  until  it  passed 
to  their  son,  Jean.  The  foundry  was  inherited  in  the  next 
generation  by  Jean's  son,  Jean  Eustache  Louis  de  Sanlecque, 
who  issued  a  specimen  —  Epreiives  des  Caracteres  dii  fond 
des  Sanlecques — at  Paris  in  1757,  printed  by  A.  M.  Lottin. 
The  Avis  au  I^cteur  says:  "The  learned  and  discerning 
have  so  many  times  stated  that  the  greater  part  of  the 
Sanlecque  types  were  engraved  by  the  best  masters,  that  I 
do  not  think  it  necessary  to  add  anything  here  to  what  has 
already  been  said.  It  suffices  to  tell  those  who  are  ignorant 
of  the  fact,  that  these  characters  have  served  in  such  es- 
teemed and  sought-after  editions  as  those  of  Cramoisy,Vitre, 
Le  Petit,  Savreux,  Leonard,  the  Elzevirs,  and  others."  The 
book  therefore  contains  fonts  of  a  much  earlier  period  than 
its  date  would  indicate.  It  is  full  of  charming  type,  some  of 
it  no  doubt  special  productions  of  the  first  Sanlecques,  and 
other  characters  by  old  tvpe-cutters.  In  larger  sizes  the  italic 


s§ 


Si 


Co 


-^  <  ^  .: 


55:   -k^ 


■  ^     ■♦<» 


^ 


?5 


<2> 


^  s  ^ 

»s     ?*     ** 
**      5«s      <5) 


<5> 


1s»         -— ' 


S2 


^      \)     ^     _Cij 


'^ 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  213 

is  especially  interesting;  apparently  very  old  forms  being 
shown  in  the  Saint  Aiigiistin,  gros  romain^  and  petit  paran- 
gon  italiqiie  {Jig.  148).  Some  roman  types  which  follow  seem 
to  have  been  cut  for  Church  office-books  to  be  used  with 
music  (jig.  149).  The  plates  of  music  types  are  extremely 
curious  {Jig.  150).  They  resemble  those  engraved  by  Hautin 
about  1525  for  Attaingnant — the  first  Parisian  printer  to 
use  movable  music  types.  Louis  de  Sanlecque  died  in  1778, 
and  the  subsequent  history  of  the  foundry  is  given  on  a 
later  page. 

We  also  reproduce  here  some  ornaments  that  appear  to 
belong  to  the  seventeenth  century,  from  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury specimen  of  the  Parisian  printer  Lamesle  {Jig.  15 1); 
and  some  roman  and  italic  types  which  appear  to  be  of  early 
date,  from  the  1773  specimen  of  the  Lyons  foundry  of  De- 
lacolonge  {Jigs.  152  a?id  153).  The  last  are  early  examples 
of  the  same  size  of  type  in  different  weights  of  face. 


In  the  eighteenth  century  a  few  classes  of  books  stand  out 
among  the  vast  production  of  French  printers  and  publish- 
ers—  the  official  folio  and  liviv  de  ga/a,  the  history  or  me- 
moir in  quarto,  the  illustrated  book  in  octavo,  16mo,  and 
32mo.  There  were,  of  course,  an  endless  number  of  books  in 
all  sizes  which  were  not  illustrated,  and  volumes  in  quarto 
which  were ;  but  these  divisions  are  characteristic  of  the 
century.  The  great  official  folios  were  very  magnificent  in- 
deed, such  as  Description  des  Fetes  donnees  par  la  Ville  de 
Paris  of  1 740,  printed  by  Le  Mercier.^  The  Voyage  Pitto- 
resque  of  the  Abbe  de  Saint-Non  and  the  folio  La  Fontaine's 
Fables  Choisies^  illustrated  by  Oudry,  are  examples  of  sim- 
ilar work,  though  private  ventures.  A  few  of  these  that  are 

'  Drue kschrif ten,  pi.  99. 


214  PRINTING  TYPES 

interesting  from  a  printer's  point  of  x'lew,  I  briefly  describe. 
The  type  employed  for  such  work  in  the  early  eighteenth 
century  was  an  imposing  sort  of  old  style,  except  \\here 
it  was  a  specially  designed  "Royal"  font.  In  later  books  of 
this  class,  type  followed  that  fashion  for  lighter  forms  which 
came  in  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  but  which  is 
more  reminiscent,  to  us,  of  nineteenth  century  fonts.  These 
great  books  show  but  one  aspect  of  the  French  press. 

The  rank  and  file  of  eighteenth  century  quartos  and  oc- 
tavos were  more  legible  than  the  similar  seventeenth  cen- 
tury book  had  been.  A  reader's  comfort  \\'as  better  looked 
after.  Their  arrangement,  too,  seems  modern  to  us — ^they 
are  no  longer  antique  and  unappetizing,  but  merely  quaint 
or  old-fashioned.  A  very  modern  page,  in  lightness  of  effect, 
is  Watelet's  U^rt  de  Peindre^  printed  by  the  Parisian  es- 
tablishment of  Guerin  and  Delatour  in  1760.  As  elsewhere 
in  Europe,  as  the  century  advanced,  books  —  or  the  best 
editions — became  more  open  in  composition,  and  therefore 
far  easier  to  the  eye.  Then,  too,  books  were  smaller  and  in 
consequence  the  types  themselves  became  lighter,  partly 
owing,  no  doubt,  to  improvements  in  paper-making  which 
encouraged  type-founders  to  make  more  delicate  characters, 
and  printers  to  employ  them.  Finally,  at  the  end  of  the 
century,  the  movement  culminated  in  fonts  which  were  not 
old  style  at  all. 

Illustrated  books — and  there  were  quantities  of  them — 
depended  with  a  few  exceptions  upon  their  copper-plate 
illustrations  and  decorations,  more  than  upon  typography, 
for  their  reputation.  In  some  books,  uith  plates,  head-pieces, 
and  tail-pieces  by  Eisen,  Choftard,  Marillier,  or  Moreau  le 
jeune  that  are  often  superb  of  their  kind,  the  typography  is 
indescribably  poor.  One  cannot  comprehend  how  the  public 

^  Druckschriften,  pi.  80. 


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Suite  des  Vignettes  de  gros  romain. 


151.  Seventeenth  Century  Ornaments 
Lamesle's  Epreuves  Generates  des  Caracteres^  Paris ^  1742 


m 


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FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  215 

could  endure  such  meanly  printed  text  as  an  accompani- 
ment to  such  beautiful  ornamentation.  But  works  like  La 
Fontaine's  Fables  Choisies  with  Oudry's  illustrations  were 
splendid  exceptions;  and  there  were  some  printers — the 
Praults  and  Barbous,  for  instance — whose  beautifully  dec- 
orated books  were  well  executed  from  the  typographic  point 
of  view. 

As  the  century  advanced,  volumes  in  small  format  be- 
came increasingly  popular  for  luxurious  editions  of  works 
of  a  lighter  class,  and  in  them  delicately  engraved  plates 
and  coquettish,  fanciful  head  and  tail-pieces  could  be  used 
to  better  advantage  than  on  a  quarto  or  folio  page.  The 
celebrated  edition  des  fermiers-generaux  of  La  Fontaine's 
Contes^  published  by  Barbou  at  Paris  (dated  Amsterdam)  in 
1762,  in  two  octavo  volumes,  is  a  famous  example  of  such 
a  book. 

Among  volumes  in  small  16mo,  Barbou's  well-edited 
Collection  des  Auteurs  Latines  were  from  a  mechanical  point 
of  view  very  attractive  and  workmanlike  books.  They  were 
sought  after,  too,  for  their  engraved  decorations  by  Cochin, 
Eisen,  and  other  artists  a  la  mode,  their  pretty  woodcut 
tail-pieces  by  J.  B.  Papillon,  and  the  agreeable  typographic 
decorations  which,  with  the  types  employed,  were  from 
the  foundry  of  Fournier  le  jeune.  After  the  year  1755, 
many  volumes  of  the  Auteurs  Latines  bore  the  inscription, 
"LittercC  quibus  impressus  est  hie  liber  a  P.  S.  Fournier 
juniore  incisae  sunt."^  The  Barbous  (printers  at  Limoges, 
from  the  sixteenth  century)  founded  their  Paris  house  in 
1704,  which  was  at  the  height  of  its  reputation  between 
1750  and  1790.  It  was  then  under  the  direction  of  Joseph 

'  The  Collection  was  completed  in  1780,  by  which  time  it  comprised  thirty- 
four  works  in  sixty-eight  volumes.  For  list  of  these,  see  Paul  Ducourtieux : 
Les Barbou,  Imfirimeurs,Lyon-Limoges-Paris,  1524-1820,  Limoges,  1896, 
pp.  277  et  seq. 


216  PRINTING  TYPES 

Gerard  Barbou,  the  most  distinguished  member  of  the  fam- 
ily, promoter  of  the  Collection  just  spoken  of,  and  patron  of 
Fournier  le  jeune.  He  published  all  Fournier's  books— ex- 
cept the  Modeles,  which  was  printed  by  his  predecessor,  an 
uncle,  Jean  Joseph  Barbou,  in  1742. 

In  the  last  quarter  of  the  century,  the  editions  brought  out 
by  the  Didots  were  often  splendid  productions.  This  family 
was  very  important  in  the  history  of  French  late  eighteenth 
century  printing,  though  it  played  its  great  part  in  the  de- 
velopment of  French  type-forms,  after  1800.  The  first  of 
the  Didot  family  was  a  certain  Denis  Didot,  a  printer  and 
publisher,  whose  son,  Francois  Didot,  —  generally  consid- 
ered the  "founder"  of  this  family, —  a  printer  and  book- 
seller, was  born  at  Paris  in  1689,  where  he  began  his  work 
in  1713.  He  is  chiefly  remembered  nowadays  for  the  publi- 
cation of  a  collection  of  travels  in  twenty  volumes  by  his 
friend  the  Abbe  Prevost,  w^hich  w^as  issued  in  1747,  and 
was  considered  a  good  piece  of  printing  in  its  time.  He 
died  in  1757.^  Two  of  his  sons,  Francois  Ambroise  (1730- 
1804)  and  Pierre  Frangois  (1732-1793),  were  the  heads  of 
branches  of  the  family,  each  of  which  contributed  largely  to 
the  perfection  of  the  many  industries  connected  with  book- 
making. 

FranQois  Ambroise  was  a  clever  type-founder,  and  the 
first  of  the  family  to  give  to  types  "the  Didot  touch,"  in 
fonts  brought  out  about  1775  that  w^ere  cut  by  Waflard. 
Didot  was  the  printer  of  a  famous  collection  of  French 
classic  authors,  published  by  order  of  Louis  XVI  in  1783; 
and  a  series  of  finely  executed  books  brought  out  at  the  in- 
stance of  the  King's  brother,  the  Comte  d'Artois,  to  whom 
he  was  printer  by  appointment.  He  so  greatly  perfected 

'  Or  accortlin'  to  some  authorities  in  1759. 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  217 

the  point  system  inaugurated  by  Fournier,  that  the  Didot 
point  superseded  its  older  rival  and  remains  to-day  the 
basis  of  French  typographical  measurement.  He  introduced 
in  France  in  1780  the  making  of  papier  velin  de  France 
(a  highly  finished  wove  paper  modelled  on  that  used  by 
Baskerville)  at  the  Johannot  mills  at  Annonay.  It  was  with 
Frangois  Ambroise  Didot  that  Franklin  placed  his  grand- 
son, Benjamin  Franklin  Bache,  in  1785.  In  his  diary,  the  lad 
writes :  "My  grandpapa  has  prevailed  upon  Mr.  Didot,  the 
best  printer  of  this  age  and  even  the  best  that  has  ever  been 
seen,  to  consent  to  take  me  into  his  house  for  some  time  in 
order  to  teach  me  his  art.  I  take  my  meals  at  his  house  and 
sleep  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Le  Roy,  a  friend  of  my  grand- 
papa ;  I  went  thither  today  with  my  cousin  and  I  became 
acquainted  with  his  family  and  something  more.  He  com- 
bines in  his  house  engraving,  the  forge,  the  foundry  and 
the  printing-office ;  it  is  a  very  amiable  family,  as  it  seems 
to  me;  the  meals  are  frugal."  On  April  7,  he  adds,  "Today 
I  have  engraved  my  first  punch  with  Mr.  Didot's  younger 
son.  It  was  an  o.  They  assert  that  I  have  not  succeeded 
badly." 

This  Frangois  Ambroise  had  two  sons,  Pierre  Pame 
(176 1-1 853),  who  succeeded  to  the  printing-office,  and  Fir- 
min  (born  1764),  who  took  over  his  father's  type-foundry. 
Pierre  is  remembered  as  the  publisher  of  the  magnificent 
editions  du  Louvre^  of  Virgil,  Horace,  La  Fontaine,  and  Ra- 
cine, the  latter  being  considered,  at  the  beginning  of  the  last 
century,  one  of  the  most  splendid  books  ever  printed.  He 
was  at  the  forefront  of  the  neo-classical  movement  in  print- 
ing, and  with  his  brother  Firmin's  chilly  types  and  the  dry 

^  Called  so  because  the  Government,  in  tribute  to  his  abilities,  gave  his  print- 
ing-office the  rooms  in  the  Louvre  formerly  tenanted  by  tlie  Imprimerie  Roy- 
ale,  which  in  1795  removed  to  the  Hotel  de  Penthievre. 


218  PRINTING  TYPES 

designs  of  a  chosen  group  of  artists,  produced  editions  of 
arctic  frigidity.  Pierre  and  Firmin  Didot  in  1784  issued 
jointly  an  Epitre  siir  les  Pro^res  de  rimpnmerie^  later  men- 
tioned. Firmin  was  most  eminent  as  a  type-founder,  and 
in  his  hands  the  type  Didot  crystallized  into  those  forms 
familiar  to  us  now.  He  was  also  interested  in  stereotyping, 
by  which  he  popularized  low-priced  editions  of  standard 
French,  English,  and  Italian  books.  He  was  a  very  cultivated 
and  learned  person — translating  (among  other  works)  Vir- 
gil's Bucolics,  printed  from  type  that  he  himself  designed 
and  cast.  Napoleon  made  him  director  of  the  foundry  of 
the  Imprimerie  Imperiale,  and  he  was  offered  its  full  direc- 
tion in  1830.  He  died  full  of  years  and  honours  in  1836. 

Ambroise  Firmin  Didot  (1790-1876),  son  of  Firmin,  and 
grandson  of  Frangois  Ambroise,  with  his  brother  Hya- 
cinthe,  succeeded  to  the  publishing  business  of  this  branch 
of  the  family,  since  styled  Firmin-Didot.  They  belong, how- 
ever, to  the  nineteenth  century. 

Pierre  Frangois  Didot  (1732-1793),  head  of  the  younger 
branch  of  the  Didot  family,  and  the  son  of  the  original 
Frangois,  was  a  type-founder  and  publisher,  and  also  in- 
terested himself  in  paper-making  at  Essonne.  Henri  Didot, 
(1765-1852),  son  of  Pierre,  is  remembered  for  his  "mi- 
croscopic" types,  a  ton?'  de  force  executed  at  an  advanced 
age.  The  assignats  issued  by  the  Convention  w  ere  engraved 
by  him,  and  their  production  played  a  very  important  part 
in  the  revival  of  stereotyping.  Another  son,  Leger  Didot 
(1767-1829),  invented  a  successful  "endless  roll"  paper- 
making  machine,  and  was  also  employed  in  type-founding. 
A  third  son,  Didot  le  jeiine,  succeeded  his  brother  Henri 
as  a  successful  tvpe-founder.  A  daughter,  Felicie,  married 
Bernardin  de  St.  Pierre.  These  are  the  chief  members  of  a 
learned  race  of  printers,  publishers,  type-founders,  paper- 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  219 

makers,  authors,  and  inventors — whose  family  reunions 
must  have  resembled  a  meeting  of  the  Royal  Society ! 

None  of  the  Didots  had  —  typographically — the  origi- 
nality of  Bodoni,  but  as  able,  industrious,  and  far  more 
scholarly  men,  they  had  immense  influence  on  French  typo- 
graphic usage.  Familiar  with  the  work  of  Baskerville,  rivals 
and  critics  of  Bodoni  and  Ibarra,  they  stood  in  France  for 
the  tendencies  that  were  fashionable  in  England,  Italy,  and 
Spain ;  and  thus  all  their  typographic  innovations  were  in 
the  direction  of  lighter  and  more  modelled  fonts.  Late  eigh- 
teenth century  Didot  editions  were  very  lucid,  readable,  ele- 
gant volumes,  printed  from  type  full  of  feeling,  and  just  on 
the  turn  between  "old  style"  and  "modern  face"  fonts.  As  in 
Bodoni's  case,  too  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  work 
of  the  Didots  at  this  period ;  for  we  remember  them  now 
as  chief  exponents  of  that  dubious  pseudo-classical  taste  that 
brought  in,  with  the  nineteenth  century,  the  rigid  Didot 
letter,  which  (not  bettered  by  English  fashions  then  much 
copied)  was,  with  its  still  worse  derivations,  a  curse  to 
French  typography  for  more  than  half  a  century. 

The  first  example  of  French  eighteenth  century  printing 
to  be  discussed  is  a  quarto  volume  by  Antoine  Houdart  de 
la  Motte,  of  the  French  Academy,  en  tided  Fables  Nouvelles^ 
published  in  1719  at  Paris  for  Gregoire  Dupuis,  and 
printed  by  Coignard.  The  Discours  siir  la  Fable  is  set  solid," 
and  this  part  of  the  book  is  reminiscent  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  as  are  the  general  make-up  of  preliminary  matter, 
the  rows  of  "flowers"  separating  the  Fables,  the  heavy  tail- 
pieces on  wood,  etc.  But  the  Fables  themselves  are  set  in 
a  delicately  cut  old  style  font,  very  much  leaded,  and  thus 
the  volume  is  transitional  in  style  between  seventeenth  and 

^ There  is  a  copy  in  the  Boston  Athenaeum. 


220  PRINTING  TYPES 

eighteenth  century  French  printing  {fg.  154).  The  engrav- 
ings at  the  head  of  each  Fable,  esj)ecially  those  designed 
and  engraved  by  Gillot  (master  to  Watteau),  are  inter- 
esting in  themselves,  and  because  they  are  surrounded  by 
simple  lines  instead  of  the  elaborate  frameworks  of  a  subse- 
quent period — such  as  those  in  Dorat's  Fables^  and  similar 
books  described  later. 

Montfaucon's  Monumens  de  la  Monarchie  Frangohe^  a 
great  folio  edition  in  five  volumes,  was  printed  at  Paris  in 
1729-33  bv  Claude  Simon  for  the  publishers,  Gandouin 
and  Gift'art.  There  is  little  of  interest  about  it  as  a  whole. 
In  detail  it  has  one  or  two  points  worth  notice.  The  type 
employed  for  the  Address  to  the  King  in  volume  first  is 
one  of  the  old  Garamond  italic  fonts — very  beautifully 
displayed  in  spite  of  the  absurd  amount  of  leading.  The 
ornaments  on  the  title-page,  at  the  head  of  the  preface,  and 
beneath  the  "privilege"  are  the  work  of  J.  B.  Papillon,  a 
A\ood-engraver  who  had  great  reputation.  The  introduction 
of  bands  of  type  "flowers"  is  a  poor  feature  of  the  book,  and 
the  innumerable  engraved  plates,  though  no  doubt  useful, 
are  another  disturbing  element.  The  book  is  a  good  exam- 
ple of  early  eighteenth  century  printing — in  style  a  litde 
earlier  than  its  date. 

Our  next  example  is  A.  M.  de  Ramsay's  Histoire  du  V\- 
comte  de  Turenne,  in  two  quarto  volumes,  printed  at  Paris 
in  1735  by  the  Veuve  Mazieres  and  J.  B.  Gamier.  The 
imposing  title-page  printed  from  somewhat  seventeenth 
century  old  style  types,  with  lines  alternately  in  red  and 
black,  has  an  engraved  heraldic  decoration.  Its  heavy  capitals 
scarcely  prepare  one  for  the  delicacy  of  the  italic  fonts  of 
the  preface,  or  the  elegant  modelled  roman  type  of  the  text. 
The  wide  margins  bear  side-notes  in  a  smaller  roman 
letter.  Running-titles  are  set  in  spaced  capitals  of  the  font. 


LIVR  E    IV.  151 

Je  mene  an  grand  trejor  quun  Dieu  'voulut  cacher ; 
ll  efl  garde ^dr  maint  ohjlacle  \ 
Et  d'ahord ,  pour  premier  miracle , 
C efl  par  monjein  quiljaut  marcher, 
Percons-le,  dit  le  Prince.  On  affemble  mille  honi- 

mes, 
Travaillant  jour  6c  nuit ,  bien  nouris ,  bien  paiez  5 
Etmoiennant  degrofTes  fommes. 
En  peu  de  jours  les  chemins  font  fraiez. 
Le  rocher  traverfe ,  fe  prefente  un  abime. 
Le  Trefor  efl  plus  loin ,  dit  un  autre  ecriteau  > 
Comhle-moi,  Soit'-i  comblons^  dit  I'Amadis  nouveau  ; 

Le  Trefor ,  a  ce  que  j'eftime 
Sur  ces  precautions,  doit  etre  un  bon  morceau. 

Nouveau  travail  6c  nouvelles  depenfes. 
Mais  I'abime  comble ,  les  belles  efperances 
Se  reculent  encor.  D'une  epaifle  foret 
Un  pin  grave  lui  dit  :  Le  Trefor  efl  toutprk  j 
Aiais pour  aller  jufqua  fa  niche , 
Ilfaut  abattre  bien  du  bois* 

154.  Old  Style  Types  used  by  Coignatd^  Paris^  1719 


FRENCH  TYPES:   1500-1800  221 

Each  book  begins  with  an  attractive  engraving  and  an  ini- 
tial letter,  also  engraved.  In  the  second  volume  the  pieces 
justijicatives  are  set  in  much  smaller  type,  and  both  its  cut 
and  its  management  —  it  is  much  leaded  —  give  these 
pages  a  modern  effect.  It  is  a  good  reading  edition  to-day, 
and  in  its  time  must  have  been  accounted  a  very  "ad- 
vanced" sort  of  book. 

The  (Euvres  de  Jean-Baptiste  Rousseau  (l671— 174l), 
printed  at  Paris  (dated  Brussels)  in  1743  by  Didot  (prob- 
ably Frangois),  in  three  large  quarto  volumes,  is  in  its 
massive  qualities  almost  a  seventeenth  century  edition,  but 
it  has  an  element  of  taste  about  it  that  the  seventeenth 
century  did  not  afford.  Printed  entirely  in  a  large  size  of 
masculine  and  nervous  old  style  roman  type,  splendidly 
placed  on  ample  quarto  pages,  and  really  adorned  with 
decorations  by  Cochin  of  a  delightful  suavity  of  design,  it 
is  a  superb  book.  The  italic  employed  for  occasional  verse 
is  an  interesting  font.  The  volumes  were  printed  from  type 
made  by  Fournier  lejeune,  who  is  here  styled  Simon  Pierre 
{Jig.  155). 

For  a  smaller  yorwG^,  the  attractive  edition  of  CEuvres  de 
Ml  Boileau  Despreaux,  edited  by  Saint-Marc,  Paris,  1747, 
in  five  12mo  volumes,  is  an  example  of  a  luxurious  and 
convenient  edition.  Overloaded  with  introductions,  notes, 
and  all  sorts  of  miscellaneous  apparatus,  it  is  in  general 
effect  advancing  toward  a  more  open  style  of  printing.  In 
the  first  two  volumes,  w  hich  are  the  ones  to  be  looked  at, 
the  poetry  is  set  in  a  letter  for  its  time  noticeably  light  in 
cut  and  uniform  in  design.  Leading  and  spacing  add  to  the 
delicate  effect.  Though  in  other  parts  of  the  volumes  this 
manner  is  not  kept  up,  none  the  less  the  typography  strikes 
a  novel  note.  It  was  printed  by  Jean  Baptiste  Coignard, 
imprimeur  du  roi,  third  of  his  name  to  be  printer  to   the 


222  PRINTING  TYPES 

French  Academy,  and  the  founder  of  a  charity  for  Parisian 
printers,  which  still  exists. 

Among  eighteenth  century  books  in  such  Jbnjiat^  I  have 
mentioned  the  Collection  des  Auteurs  Latines  published  by 
Barbou,  who  used  in  them  Fournier  le  JeimtPs  types  and 
ornaments.  In  this  connection,  a  three- volume  edition  of  the 
Comcedix  of  Plautus  (Paris,  1759)  may  be  examined.  For 
a  very  full  showing  of  Fournier's  types  and  ornaments — 
though  the  engraved  flowers  appear  to  be  by  Papillon  — 
see  F.  J.  Desbillons'  Fahidanim  JEsopiarum  Lihri  Qidnque 
Priores^  very  agreeably  printed  by  Barbou  in  the  same  year 
(/^.  156). 

The  magnificent  edition  (in  four  volumes,  folio)  of  La 
Fontaine's  Fables  Choisles  w  ith  illustrations  from  paintings 
by  Oudry,  redrawn  by  Cochin  jils^  who,  with  others,  en- 
graved the  plates,  is  one  of  the  landmarks  in  French  deco- 
rative book-making.  Cochin  apparently  had  the  oversight 
of  the  whole  work,  which  was  published  between  1755  and 
1759  jointly  by  Desaint  and  Saillant  and  by  Durand.'  It 
was  printed  by  Jombert,  who  produced  many  fine  books  on 
military  subjects.  Of  Oudry's  famous  but  frigid  full-page 
designs  I  shall  not  speak,  except  to  praise  the  work  of  the 
engravers. 

The  typography  is  magnificently  adequate  for  the  enor- 
mous pages  of  the  work.  The  Fables  are  set  in  a  very  hand- 
some, round,  old  style  font,  which  is  as  readable  as  type  can 
be.  Half-titles  and  tides  are  finely  displayed  in  roman  and 
italic  capitals,  much  spaced;  the  serifs  of  the  roman  capi- 
tals showing,  however,  a  bad  tendency  towards  hair-lines. 

'  TTiis  edition  created  considerable  noise  at  the  time  of  its  appearance,  and 
the  first  volume  was  the  subject  of  an  elaborate  attack,  defence,  and  rejoin- 
der, in  the  Journal  dca  Sqavans  for  Febniary,  the  Mercure  de  France  for 
Marrli,  and  the  JournaldcH  S\avan.'i  for  September,  1756.  The  critic,  from 
internal  evidence,  may  ha\e  been  a  t\  pe-founder. 


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FABULARUM 

^SOPIARUM 

LIBER      (lUARTUS. 


PROLOGUS. 

jfSu  B  illo  vetere  ,  simplici  ,  mundo  flilo 
Jam  turn  recessit  paululum  Latinitas  j 
Ubi  romana  pubes  femel  abhorriiit 
Ab  fcriptitandis  versibus  fenariis  , 
Quales  Poetae  veteres  omnes  comici 
Fundere  folebant.  Imo  ferme  ceteri 
Veteres  Poetae ,  si  qua  praesertim  vafra! 
Lubido  Mus3e  fcriptionem  ludicram , 
Menlppeamque  concinnare  juflerat  , 
In  metro  amabant  liberum  hunc  morem  fequl 
Suavem  profcfto  ,  nee  vocabulis  minus  , 
Quim  rebus  ipsis  aptandis  idoneum. 
Romanorum  ille  Varro  a  qui  doflissimus 
Ante  ,   &  poft  fata  di<?lus  eft ,  hujusmodi 
Senariorum  millia  multa  fcripserat  j 

a  A.  Gellius  ,  Lib.  III.  Cap.  X.  Varronis  de  numero  feptena- 
nario  Librum  exponens  :  Tarn  ibi  ,  inquit  ,  addit  fc  quoquc  jam 
duodccimam  annorum  hchdomadam  ingrcjfum  tjfe ,  (t  ad  eum  diem 
fcplua^iala  htbdomadai  Librorum  confcrtp;iJ[e, 


156.  Foumier  le  jeune's  Types  and  Ornaments 
Barboit.,  Paris^  1759 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  223 

The  composition  is  splendid,  its  only  weak  point  being  the 
occasional  use  of  triple  rules  beneath  running-titles.  To 
my  mind,  the  glory  of  this  great  work  is  J.  J.  Bachelier's 
floral  tail-pieces,  etc.,  cut  on  wood  by  J.  B.  Papillon  and 
Le  Sueur,  which  are  among  the  most  splendid  woodcut 
decorations  of  their  kind  known.  Copied  and  re-copied  in 
every  book  on  ornamental  design,  they  must  be  seen  on  these 
pages  to  be  appreciated.  Great  pains  were  taken  w  ith  these 
decorations,  which  were  intended  to  show  the  perfection  that 
wood-engraving — then  neglected  and  despised  —  could  at- 
tain in  competent  hands.  Bachelier,  who  "invented"  them, 
was  a  flower  painter  and  director  of  design  at  the  Royal 
Porcelain  Manufactory  at  Vincennes.  He  adapted  them  to 
printing  on  rough  paper  by  drawings  executed  in  a  very 
open  manner,  and  they  were  interpreted  by  the  engravers 
with  this  in  mind.  A  passage  about  them  in  the  Avertissement 
to  Volume  I  is  worth  reading,  and  the  most  important  are 
described  in  a  note  at  the  end  of  Volume  I V.^  I  recommend 
their  study  to  designers  wishing  to  learn  how  to  draw  orna- 
ments to  be  printed  with  letter-press. 

The  four  16mo  volumes  that  make  up  the ^/zMo/o§7V7^raw- 
goise^  ou  Chansons  Choisies^  depuis  le  13^  Siecle  jusqu' a  present^ 
edited  by  Jean  Monnet  (whose  superb  portrait  by  Cochin 
engraved  by  A.  de  St.  Aubin  faces  its  title-page),  are  thor- 
oughly delightful  pieces  of  printing.  The  preface  is  set  in 
an  italic — au  gout  nouveau  (that  is  to  say,  a  letter  very  even 
and  monotonous  in  line),  and  the  introduction  by  De  Quer- 
lon,  in  a  respectable  old  style  roman  font.  The  pleasantest 
part  of  the  book  begins  with  the  Chansons  and  their  music 
(printed  from  Fournier's  music  types),  most  beautifully 

*  They  are  the  designs  on  the  title-page,  at  the  head  of  the  dedication,  and  in 
Vol.  I,  pp.  10,  14,  34,  44;  Vol.  II,  pp.  26,  48,  54,  64.  The  comparatively 
recent  so-called  "  reproduction"  of  this  edition  is  beneath  contempt. 


224  PRINTING  TYPES 

arranged,  and  touched  up  with  gay  little  head  and  tail- 
pieces on  \\ood,  many  of  which  are  delightful.  It  appears 
to  be  set  in  Fournier's  types,  and  some  of  its  typographic 
head-bands  are  to  be  found  in  his  specimen-book.  The  work 
was  printed  at  Paris  in  1765  bv  Joseph  Gerard  Barbou 
ifg-  157). 

Claude  Joseph  Dorat  was  a  fashionable  person  who 
wrote  as  {X)or  poetry  as  fashionable  ^•ersifiers  generally  do. 
Dorat's  books  interest  a  printer  because  they  express  the 
dernier  cri  in  typographic  modes  of  their  time,  and  show  the 
kind  of  printing  that  then  satisfied  a  "smart"  public.  The 
editions  best  remembered — for  nobody  no^^'adays  remem- 
bers his  poems  —  are  those  of  his  Fables  JVouvelles  and  Les 
Baisers. 

The  Fables  .Xouvelles  has  a  Hague  imprint,  though  really 
published  by  Delalain  of  Paris  in  1773.  Dorat  alludes,  in  his 
preface  to  this  edition,  to  the  pompe  typo^vphiqiie  of  its  pre- 
sentation. There  was  little  pomp  about  the  volume,  how- 
ever, as  far  as  types  were  concerned.  It  is  composed  in  a 
clear  old  style  font  of  merely  respectable  cut,  and  head- 
ings to  the  Fables  employ  decorated  capitals  and  type  or- 
naments to  the  last  degree  trivial.  The  presswork  is  uneven, 
the  paper  none  too  good,  but  the  engraved  decorations  by 
Marillier,  though  too  heavy  for  so  small  a  page,  are  —  the 
best  of  them  —  quite  wonderful,  and  just  miss  being  wholly 
charming.  At  any  rate,  they  are  famous. 

Les  Baisers,  also  with  The  Hague  as  its  imprint,  but  is- 
sued at  Paris  by  Delalain  in  1770,  is  another  typical  edi- 
tion. Though  it  was  decorated  by  Eisen,  it  is  very  indif- 
ferently printed  and  (as  a  whole)  is  a  much  overrated  book. 

Jean  Francois  de  Saint  Lambert  wrote  an  insipid  poem, 
Les  Sai.svns,  somewhat  in  the  manner  of  Thomson,  in  four 
parts  —  Spring,  Summer,  Autumn,  and  W inter.  This  had 


I  ■• 

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FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  225 

enormous  popularity  and  was  many  times  reprinted.  A  sev- 
enth edition  (still  sought  after  for  its  beautiful  engravings) 
was  published  in  1775  at  "Amsterdam" — really,  I  suppose, 
Paris.  To  the  poem  —  which  with  introduction  and  notes 
fills  the  first  half  of  the  book  —  are  added  two  or  three 
short  stories,  one  of  which  is  alluded  to  by  Madame  Cam- 
pan  as  attracting  the  attention  of  Marie  Antoinette.  Some 
fugitive  verse  and  "Oriental  Fables"  complete  a  volume 
which  (exquisitely  illustrated  by  Moreau  lejeiine  and  Chof- 
fard)  had  a  very  fashionable  public.  The  book  shows  every 
evidence  of  employing  Fournier's  types,  and  the  orna- 
ments are  undoubtedly  from  his  foundry.  The  points  about 
it  which  are  typographically  so  important  are  the  very 
modelled  old  style  fonts  used  for  the  Discours  Preliminaire 
and  the  poem  itself  {_jig.  158),  and  the  new  style  of  italic  in 
the  "arguments  "  to  each  book  oiLes  Saisons  {Jig.  1 59).  This 
italic  is  midway  between  the  old  style  italic  previously  used 
and  that  put  forth  later  by  Firmin  Didot.  It  is  very  easy  to 
read,  owing  to  regularity  of  line  and  design;  but  it  is  as  in- 
ferior in  style  to  that  which  it  supplanted  as  the  Didot  type 
was  inferior  to  it.  The  typographical  head-pieces  for  the 
stories  should  be  looked  at.  The  book  is  a  very  good  example 
of  the  use  of  somewhat  refined  old  style  types ;  though  it  is 
greatly  disfigured  by  the  heavy  rules  on  the  title-page  and 
below  running-titles. 

The  celebrated  Voyage  Pittoresque^  on  Descripimi  des 
Royaumes  cle  Naples  et  de  Sidle  of  the  Abbe  Jean  Claude 
Richard  de  Saint-Non  (1730-1804),  is  a  combination  of 
the  great  official  folio  with  the  illustrated  edition  de  luxe.  Its 
five  gigantic  volumes  give  an  opportunity  for  the  inser- 
tion of  innumerable  plates.  Old  style  types  of  medium 
weight,  a  good  deal  leaded,  are  used  throughout.  The  com- 
position is   a  little  confused,  and   some  inadequate  type 


226  PRINTING  TYPES 

decorations,  needlessly  introduced,  are  overwhelmed  by  the 
magnificent  engraved  decorations,  unsurpassed  of  their 
kind.  The  Voyage  has  a  further  interest  because  it  helped 
on  the  vogue  for  classical  motifs  in  decoration,  through  its 
agreeablv  rendered  plates  of  classical  furniture  and  utensils. 
The  designs  from  Greek  vases  in  two  colours  are  admira- 
ble pieces  of  copper-plate  printing,  and  a  word  should  be 
said  about  the  sumptuous  engraved  Dedication  to  Marie 
Antoinette,  in  Volume  I.  Saint-Non,  the  most  distinguished 
amateur  of  the  second  half  of  the  century,  was  himself  a 
passable  engraver  as  well  as  an  archaeologist  and  anti- 
quary. A  convinced  idealist,  he  dedicated  his  life  to  produc- 
ing this  wonderful  work,  which,  begun  in  1778,  was  finished 
in  1786.  It  was  printed  by  Clousier  and  —  incidentally  — 
ruined  Saint-Non. 

A  book  in  small  format  that  show^s  Didot  Paine  at  his 
best  as  a  printer,  is  the  Abbe  de  Lille's  Georgiques  de  Virgile^ 
en  vers  Francois.  Delightful  old  style  types  are  used  in  this 
prettv  little  32mo  edition,  which  was  printed  for  the  Paris 
publisher,  Bleuet,  in  1782  {fig.  160).  This  should  be  com- 
pared with  a  volume  already  alluded  to  (in  a  ^\•ay  a  "speci- 
men-book") that  shows  some  new  Didot  characters  —  the 
octavo  Epitre  sur  les  Progres  de  V Impiimeiie  (1784),  writ- 
ten by  Pierre,  eldest  son  of  Frangois  Ambroise  Didot,  and 
printed  in  italic  types  designed  by  Firmin  Didot,  his  sec- 
ond son.  It  emplovs  for  the  poem  a  very  light,  monotonous 
italic  {fig.  161).  The  notes  are  set  in  a  smaller  size  of  it, 
mingled  with  a  roman  letter  which  is  somewhat  colourless 
in  effect.  The  general  conception  of  its  type  is  still  old  style, 
but  pared  down  to  the  last  degree.  This  italic  was  not  an 
invention  "from  a  clear  sky,"  but  merely  "developed"  the 
tvpe  an  gout  nouveau^  of  which  we  have  seen  examples  in 
mid-eighteenth  century  French   specimen-books.  Firmin 


L'  E  T  E.  105 


L'un  monte  le  belier  delivre  de  fa  laine ; 
j^o  L'autre  veut  efFrayer ,  cache  dans  les  rofeaux , 
Ses  jeunes  compagnons  fe  jouants  dans  les  eaux; 
Leurs  cris ,  la  cornemufe  &:  le  chant  des  bcrgeres , 
Vont  apprendre  leur  joie  aux  echos  folitaires. 

Un  jour ,  fous  les  berceaux  d'un  verger  ecarte , 

5^J  Contemplant  ccs  pafteurs ,  partageant  leur  gaite , 
J'abordai  le  fermier  >  qui  de  Tombre  d'un  hetre , 
Obfervoit ,  comme  moi ,  cette  fcene  champetre. 
Qu'il  eft  dans  votre  etat  d'agreables  moments ! 
Lui  dis-je ;  &:  tous  nosarts ,  nos  vains  amufements 

400  Valent-ils  ces  travaux  que  la  joie  accompagne, 
Et  la  fimplicite  des  jeux  de  la  campagne  ? 
Non  ,  dit-il  j  j'ai  connu  vos  plaifirs  fi  vantes , 
lis  lont  trop  peu  fentis ,  ils  font  trop  achetes  j 
Je  Icur.ai  compare  les  plaifirs  du  village  j 

40 J  Py  vis,  je  fuis  content,  &:  benis  mon  partage. 
Jeune ,  Sc  ne  d'un  fang  noble ,  a  la  guerre  cntraine, 
Jc  n'y  dementis  pas  le  fang  dont  j'etois  ne  : 
Mais  mes  fonds  diflipes ,  mes  fermes  confumees 
Par  ce  luxe  fans  frein  qui  corrompt  nos  armees, 

410  Quand  la  paix  couronna  les  fucces  de  mon  Roi , 
Je  me  vis  fans  fortune  ainfi  que  fans  emploi. 
Le  befoin  n'avilit  que  les  coeurs  fans  courage  : 
Moi ,  plein  du  fcntiment  dts  forces  de  mon  age , 

158.  Roman  Type  of  Saint  Lambert's  Saisons^  Paris^  1773 


jfftBIWMtinilMrr''"WWII«l  Willi  lllllll  III  ■■■■■■■tlMMM^MMMMtaWBWHKatMJUlMW^^ 

ARGUMENT. 

JLj  e  Soleil  SC>  la  chaleur  font  eclore  une 

multitude  d'etres  nouveaux  qui  animent  les 

elemens,  Caraciere  de  grandeur  SCy  d'opur 

lence  que  UEte  donne  a  la  nature,  Elle 

efi  moins  variee  quau  Printems  ;  elle  ne 

doit  etre  vue  quen  grand,  Riche  SC  vafle 

payfage  fait  pour  etre  vu  pendant  l*Ete  ; 

Jes  effetsfur  Vame,  Eloge  de  I* Agriculture, 

Combien  il  efi  facde  de  rendre  heureux 

les  Laboureurs  ;  leurs  moeurs,  UEte  dans 

fa  force,  Puijfance  8C  majefii  de  la  Nature 

fous  la  Zone  Torride  ;  la  chute  du  Nil; 

une  foret,  P ay f ages  tels  quon  les  dlfire 

pendant  la  chaleur  ^  &  leurs  effets  fur  les 

fens  SC  fur  I'ame,    Tondaifon,    Fenaifon 

SC  gaite  des  travaux  champ etres.  Un  Gen- 

tilhomme  que  la  guerre  ayoit  ruine  prend 

uneferme,  Maturite  des  bleds.  Corvee  & 

159.  Italic  in  Saint  Lambert's  Saisons^  Pari.s^  1775 


4« 


D   I    S   C    O   U    R  s 


Enfin,  nialgre  cetre  gene,  I'obferva- 
tion  des  regies  de  notre  poefie  produic  de 
moins  giandes  beautes  que  I'obfervation 
des  regies  de  la  poelie  latine.  Daiis  cclle-ci , 
le  melange  marque  des  fyllabes  breves  &C 
longiiesamenenecefsairenientlerhychme; 
dans  la  norre,lcs  regies  ne  prcfcrivcnc rien 
far  la  durce  des  fyllabes,  mais  feulemenc 
fur  leur  nombre  arichmecique;  de  sorte 
que  des  versfrangois  pcuvent  etre  reguliers 
fans  erre  nombreux,  &  fatisfaire  aux  loix 
de  la  verfification  fans  fatisfaire  a  celks  dc 
I'harmonic. 

Je  n'ai  parle  jufqu'a  prcfent  que  de  cette 
haimonie  gcnerale  qui ,  par  I'heureux 
choix  ,  renchainement  melodieux  des 
mots,  flatte  agreablement  I'oreille.  II  eft 
unc  autre  efpece  d'harmonie  nommee  imi- 
tative, harmonic  bienfuperieure  a  I'au  tie, 
s'il  eft  vrai  que  T'objet  de  la  poefie  foit  de 
pelndre.  Pope  en  donne  I'exemple  Sc  le  pre- 
cepte  a  la  fois  dans  des  vers  imites  admi- 
rablement  par  I'abbe  Durefnel ,  5:  que  j'ai 
sfsaye  de  traduire. 


!•    R.    E    L    1    M    I    N    A    I    R    E.       47 

I'eins-moi  Icgcremcnt  I'amain  leger  dc  Flore ; 
Qu'undouxruifseaumurmuic  en  vers  plus  doux  encore. 
Entend-on  de  la  mer  les  ondcs  bouillonner? 
Le  vers ,  comme  un  torrent ,  en  roulant  doit  tonner. 
Qu'Ajax  foulcve  un  roc  &  le  lance  avec  peine; 
Chaqiie  fylbbc  eft  lonrdc  &  chaque  mot  fe  traine. 
Mais  voisd'un  piedlcger  Camille  effleurerl'eau; 
Le  vers  vole ,  &  la  suit  audi  prompt  que  I'oifeaij, 

Mais,il  faut  en  convenir,  c'eft  peut-etre 
a  Get  cgard  que  la  langue  latine  I'emporce 
le  plus  fur  la  notre.  La  quantite  des  fyllabes, 
done  la  brievete  ou  la  longueur  precipitc 
ou  ralentit  le  vers ,  ctoit  determinee  chez 
les  Latins :  nous  avons  aufll  des  breves  &C 
des  longues,  mais  beaucoup  moins  mar- 
quees ;  notre  profodic  n'eft  point  decidce 
comme  celle  des  anciens,  &  cette  decifion 
laifse  tout  le  jqgemtnt  8:  tout  le  travail 
de  I'harmonie  a  I'oreille  8c  au  gout  du 
poete. 

D'aillcurs, comme  je  I'ai  dejadit,nou3 
avons  dans  notre  langue  irop  peu  de  sons 
pleins,  crop  d'£  muses,  tiop  de  fyllabes 


160,  Roman  Types  used  by  Didot  Paine\  Paris^  1782 


]£  P  i  T  R  E 

SUR    LES    PR0GR£S 
DE    L'IMPRIMERIE. 


A     MON     PERE. 

Cet  art  qui  tous  les  jours  muluplie  avec  grace 
Et  les  vers  de  Vlrgile  et  les  lecons  d' Horace  ; 
Qui,  plus  sublime  encor,  plus  noble  en  son  emploi, 
Donne  un  texte  epure  des  livres  de  la  Loi, 
Et,  parmi  nous  de  Dieu  conservant  les  oracles , 
Pour  la  religion  fit  ses  premiers  miracles  ; 
Des  grands  evenements  cet  art  conservateur , 
Trop  ingrat  seulement  envers  son  inventeur , 
N'a  pas  su  nous  transmettre  avec  pleine  assurance 
Le  genie  etonnant  qui  lui  donna  naissance. 
Toi  qui  sus  concevoir  tant  de  plans  a  lafois, 
A  V immortalite pourquoi perdre  tes  droits? 


161.  Page  employing  Firmin  Didofs  Italic^  printed  by  F.A.  Didot 
Paris^  1784 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  227 

Didot's  italic  types  superseded  those  of  Fournier  le  jeune^ 
which  until  then  had  been  popular,  and  allusion  to  this  is 
made  in  the Epitre,  The  JEpUrewixs  reprinted  in  an  exquisite 
little  volume  in  18mo  —  Pierre  Didot's  Essai  de  Fables  ?iou- 
velles  dediees  an  Roi;  .mwies  de  Poesies  diverses  et  d''une  Epitre 
surles progres dc r Impiimerie.  .  .  .  APaiis^impiime par FrariQ. 
Amhr.  Didot  Vaine  avec  les  caracteres  de  Firmin  son  9!^^  Jils^ 
1786.  The  same  series  of  types  is  used  in  both  books,  but  not 
in  the  same  sizes.  In  this  small  format  the  delicacy  of  type 
is  warranted  —  and  the  composition  is  very  tastefully  man- 
aged.^ 

Tasso's  Gerusalemme  Liherata  was  printed  at  Paris  by 
Frangois  Ambroise  Didot  Pame^  in  1784-88,  "by  order  of 
Monsieur,"  —  the  Comte  de  Provence  (afterwards  Louis 
XVIII), —  who  chose  the  subjects  for  Cochin's  illustrations. 
It  is  a  beautiful  example  of  Didot's  printing.  The  type  is 
a  delicate  old  style,  though  a  little  too  much  influenced  by 
Bodoni  in  the  contrasting  weight  of  line,  an  effect  increased 
by  the  vellum-like  paper  employed.  The  Didots  no  doubt 
believed  that  the  papier-velin  improved  their  books,  by  en- 
abling them  to  attenuate  the  thin  strokes  of  the  type — re- 
finements which  these  highly  finished  papers  were  able  to 
"take"  only  too  successfully. 

In  1782,  the  Paris  publishers  Molini  and  Lamy  issued  a 
prospectus  of  an  edition  of  a  work  first  brought  out  in  1757 
by  the  Comte  de  Caylus  and  J.  B.  Mariette — the  Peintures 
Antiques  de  Bartoli^  which  reproduced  frescoes  discovered 
at  Herculaneum.  This  new  edition  of  one  hundred  copies 
was  to  be  all  that  was  most  distinguished,  and  for  it  some 

'  For  title-pages  of  books  in  smail  format,  printed  in  light  Didot  types  much 
spaced,  consult  the  facsimiles,  in  Le  Petit's  Editions  Originates,  of  Paul  et 
Firginie  of  1789  and  La  Chaumiere  Indienne  of  1791,  both  by  Bemardin 
de  St.  Pierre. 


228  PRINTING  TYPES 

new  types  of  Didot  raine  were  to  be  used.  The  portion  of 
the  prospectus  which  is  reproduced  {Jig-  162)  shows  this 
beautiful  transitional  font,  which  retains  the  charm  of  old 
style  letter,  but  has  a  touch  of  grace  and  delicacy  which 
makes  it  very  much  of  its  period.  It  is  one  of  a  series  of 
steps  by  which  the  Didots  learnedly  but  foolishly  descended 
to  the  types  they  used  about  1800. 

In  Frangois  Ambroise  Didot's  edition  of  the  (Euvres  de 
Fenelon  in  nine  quarto  volumes,  begun  in  1787  and  com- 
pleted by  his  son,  Pierre  Didot,  in  1792,  the  shape  of  letter 
used  is  still  old  style,  but  it  is  so  thin  and  fragile  that  it  is 
scarcely  recognizable  as  old  style  at  all.  This  results  in 
faded-looking  pages  that  are  perfectly  legible,  but  give  an 
insecure  feeling  to  the  eye  {Jig.  163).  This  edition  should 
be  compared  with  Fenelon's  Averjtures  de  Telemaqiie^  also 
printed  in  quarto  in  1787  by  Pierre  Frangois  Didot,  brother 
to  Frangois  Ambroise.  The  preface  states  that  it  is  set  in 
"/c.y  nouveaiix  Caracteres  de  m  Fonderie^''  and  that  the  sub- 
scribers, allowed  to  choose  between  a  caractere  gras  and  a 
caractere  maigre  for  this  edition,  had  given  six  hundred 
votes  for  the  former  against  two  for  the  latter.  The  choice 
seems  justified,  for  the  gras  employed  in  Telemaque{Jig.  1 64) 
is  maigre  enough,  in  all  conscience!  However,  it  is  a  type 
with  some  colour  left  in  it,  and  it  is  beautifully  imposed 
and  printed  on  a  rich  papier  d''Annonay,  made  for  the  book. 

The  Kehl  editions  of  Voltaire  (with  the  imprint  Societe 
Litteraire  Typographique)  were  printed  from  Baskerville's 
type,  purchased  by  Beaumarchais  for  the  purpose.  Three 
editions  were  proposed;  but  the  octavo  and  12mo  seem  to 
have  been  the  only  ones  completed.  The  octavo  is  the  better 
of  the  two,  and  its  pages  have  distinction  and  charm. 
Their  marked  lightness  of  effect  is  gained  by  very  open 
leading  and  by  titles  set  in  spaced  capital  letters,  much 


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VIE  DE  M.  DE  FENELON. 
hiirnilier  ou  nous  confonclre,  ne  paroU  occupe  que 
de  nos  interets  et  de  notre  boriheur. 

Feneloii  vouloit  que  toutes  les  affaires  de  son  dio- 
cese lui  fussent  rapportees,  et  il  les  examinoit  par 
lui-meme;  mais  !a  moindre  chose  importante  dans 
la  discipline  ne  se  decidoit  que  de  concert  avec  ses 
vicaires  generaux  et  les  autres  clianoines  de  son  con- 
seil ,  qui  s'assembloit  deux  fois  la  semaine.  Jamais  il 
ne  s'y  est  prevalu  de  son  rang  ou  de  ses  talents ,  pour 
decider  par  autorite,  sans  persuasion  :  il  reconnois- 
soit  les  pretres  pour  ses  freres,  recevoit  leurs  avis,  et 
profitoit  de  leur  ex|)erience.  Le  pasteur ,  disoit-il ,  a 
besoin  d'etre  encore  plus  docile  que  le  iroupeau;  il  faut 

163.  Caractere  Maigre  used  by  F.  A.  and  P.  Didot^  Paris^  1787-92 


L   I   V   R  E       X  Vf  If.  1 37 

d'un  beau  pretexte  pour  contcnterleur ambition,  et  pour 
se  jouer  cles  hommes  credules :  ces  hommes,  qui  a\  oient 
abuse  de  la  vertu  meme  ,  quoiqu  elle  soit  le  plus  grand 
don  des  dieux  ,  etoient  punis  comme  les  plus  scelerats 
de  tous  les  hommes.  Lesrenfans  qui  axoient  egorge  leurs 
peres  et  leurs  meres,  les  epouses  qui  a\oient  trempe  leurs 
mains  dans  le  sangde  leurs  epoux,  les  traitres  qui  a\'oient 
li\'re  leur  [)alrie  apres  avoir  viole  tous  les  sermens ,  souf- 
iroient  des  peines  moins  cruelles  que  ces  hypocrites.  Les 
trois  juges  des  enfers  Tavoient  ainsi  voulu;  et  voici  leur 
raison  :  c'est  que  les  hypocrites  ne  se  contentent  pas 
d'etre  mechans  comme  le  reste  des  impies  ;  ils  veulent 

164.  Caractere  Gras  used  by  Pierre  Franqois  D'ldot^  Paris ^  1787 


\ 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  229 

helped  by  the  small  sizes  of  the  types  employed,  which  lend 
themselves  readily  to  this  kind  of  treatment.  Some  of  the 
tables  of  contents  are  particularly  interesting  in  composi- 
tion. The  12mo  edition,  planned  on  the  same  lines  as  the 
octavo,  scarcely  "arrives,"  as  its  type  seems  rather  a  misfit 
for  such  a  small  Jbrmat.  This  work  —  de  /o?igue  haleine  — 
was  printed  in  seventy  volumes  octavo,  and  in  ninety-two 
volumes  12mo,  being  begun  in  1784  and  finished  in  1789. 
Artistically  a  success,  it  was  financially  a  complete  failure. 
And  it  is  one  of  the  sarcasms  of  destinv  that  the  Revolu- 
tion which  Voltaire  helped  bring  about,  wrecked  the  "defi- 
nitive edition"  of  his  works  !  Pages  of  La  Pucelle  of  1789 
are  reproduced  ^jig-  165). 

As  an  indication  of  changing  typography  the  student 
should  look  at  Dorat's  Lettres  en  Vers^  et  CEuwes  Melees,  pub- 
lished by  Delalain  in  1792.  It  is  much  the  same  kind  of  a 
book  as  the  Fables;  but  by  1 792  types  had  wholly  changed, 
becoming  feeble  in  colour  and  modern  in  shape.  Ephem- 
eral volumes  like  Dorat's  are  often  more  "rewarding"  typo- 
graphically than  better  books,  because  they  depended  on 
luxurious  presentation  to  get  themselves  read.  They  are 
the  equivalent  of  a  nineteenth  century  "gift  book."  To  see 
the  best  printing  of  a  century,  one  must  know  what  books 
were  in  fashion — for  many  volumes,  forgotten  now,  Avere 
the  ones  on  which  the  printer  spent  most  labour. 

C.  M.  Saugrain's  octavo  edition  of  the  New  Testament 
in  Latin  and  French  (translated  by  De  Saci)  was  begun 
by  Didot  jeune  in  1793.  In  plan  a  handsome  work,  it  is 
wrecked  by  its  chilly  "modern"  types,  excessive  leading, 
and  a  paper  too  rough  for  the  fonts  employed.  It  is  illus- 
trated by  Moreau  le  jeune,  who  seems  very  ill  at  ease  in 
designing  Biblical  subjects.  The  edition  is  inscribed  to  the 
Assemblee  Nationale,  which,  though  pledged  to  receive  no 


230  PRINTING  TYPES 

dedications  of  books,  made  an  exception  in  its  favour,  to 
show  —  in  1791 — "its  attachment  and  respect  for  the 
Christian  Religion." 

A  six-vohime  edition  of  CEuvres  de  Moliere  was  printed 
in  1 79 1-94  at  Paris  by  P.  Didot  Vaine^  in  an  edition  limited  to 
two  hundred  and  fifty  copies,  set  from  some  new  types  cut 
b}^  Firmin  Didot.  It  was  part  of  Pierre  Didot's  quarto  series 
of  Auteurs  Classiques  Franqo'is  et  Latine.  To  understand  it 
typographically,  compare  it  with  the  six-volume  quarto  edi- 
tion of  Moliere,  of  1734,  which  was  intended  to  be  "printed 
with  magnificence"  by  Pierre  Prault,  with  illustrations  and 
decorations  by  Boucher,  Oppenort,  and  others.  Prault's  edi- 
tion is  from  old  style  types,  full  of  warmth  and  colour,  while 
in  die  Didot  Moliere,  though  the  types  are  not  absolutely 
modern  face,  they  have  lost  their  suave  quality  —  they  are 
too  regular  and  lack  picturesqueness,  and  produce  very 
arid  pages. 

A  folio  Latin  edition  of  Lucan's  Pharsalia,  published  and 
edited  by  Antoine  Auguste  Renouard  and  printed  from  the 
types  of  Didot  Jils  aine  in  1795,  is  an  example  of  the  use 
of  over-modelled  late  Didot  types,  and  a  very  hideous  piece 
of  work  it  is !  Each  letter  of  these  fonts,  perfect  enough  in 
itself,  has  too  much  light  and  shade,  and  in  mass  lacks 
solidity  of  effect.  The  type  jumps  at  you  !  The  arrangement, 
too,  is  w  ithout  much  sense  of  style.  It  fails  just  where  Bo- 
doni  and  even  the  Foulis  brothers  succeeded;  though  none 
the  less  it  is  typographically  a  very  instructive  volume  for 
the  student. 

In  France  the  typographic  event  of  the  close  of  the  cen- 
tury was  the  appearance  of  Pierre  Didot's  editions  dii  Louvre 
of  Horace  and  Virgil.  The  Opera  of  Virgil,  in  folio,  was 
a  limited  edition  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  copies,  printed 
in  1798  from  types  designed  and  cast  by  Firmin  Didot. 


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FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  231 

It  was  decorated  with  twenty-three  engraved  plates  after 
designs  by  Gerard  and  Girodet,  and  was  intended  to  sur- 
pass Bodoni's  folio  Virgil  of  1793.  This  was  followed  in 
1799  by  Pierre  Didot's  folio  Latin  Horace  with  decorations 
by  Percier — a  companion  limited  edition.  I  have  some  of  the 
"trial"  pages  of  the  Horace  which  belonged  to  Renouard 
and  were  probably  given  him  by  Didot.  The  type  is  clear 
to  read,  but  quite  without  charm.  Variations  of  light  and 
shade  are  extreme,  and  the  serifs  of  capital  letters  such  as 
M  and  N  are  literally  hair-lines  at  right  angles  to  the  up- 
right strokes  {Jig.  166).  The  pages  as  a  whole  are  impos- 
ing but  lifeless.  The  decoration  to  the  first  ode,  designed  by 
Percier  and  engraved  by  Girodet,  is  splendid  enough  of  its 
kind,  but  is  as  hard  in  feeling  and  execution  as  the  typog- 
raphy beneath  it  {Jig.  167). 

From  this  survey  of  French  books,  \\t  see  that  in  the  six- 
teenth century  black-letter  was  at  first  used,  but  was  slowly 
driven  out  by  the  fashions  introduced  by  Tory  and  the 
Italian  influence  in  French  art ;  that  during  that  century, 
especially  in  the  first  half — the  great  period  of  French 
printing  —  French  types  were  a  slightly  more  delicate 
form  of  the  best  Italian  letters  of  the  preceding  century.  In 
the  seventeenth  century,  letter-design  became  less  classi- 
cal and  monumental  in  feeling  and  inclined  more  toward 
what  we  now  know  as  heavy  "old  style"  types,  and  of 
these  (as  we  shall  see  later)  some  of  the  finest  were  cut 
only  through  royal  subvention.  In  the  eighteenth  century, 
types,  though  still  rather  heavy  in  the  earlier  years,  became 
lighter  in  form  and  method  of  composition  as  time  ^ent 
on,  until  the  type-forms  developed  into  "modern  face"  — 
the  rigid  uniformity  of  which  was  then  mistaken  for  classic 
severity. 


232  PRINTING  TYPES 

It  is  a  wonderful  showing  that  the  French  printer  makes 
from  1500  to  1800.^  His  best  typograph) — like  much  else 
that  is  French  —  was  all  along  the  centuries  characterized 
by  distinction  and  elegance.  And  this  was  not  all.  Hand  in 
hand  with  these  went  lucidity  of  thought  and  resultant 
lucidity  of  product — that  inspired  practicality  which  is  the 
fascinating  and  peculiar  possession  of  the  brave  sons  and 
daughters  of  Gaul ! 

'  A  good  list  of  examples  of  French  printing  of  various  periods  is  contained  in 
the  Catalogue  of  the  Cercle  de  la  Librarie.  Premi'tre  Exfiosition.  .  .  .  Par- 
tie  Retrosfiective  (Histoire  de  la  Tyfiografihie  Franqaise  fiar  les  Livres,  de- 
fiuis  Porigine  jusqu'a  la  Jin  du  XVIIF  siecle) .  Paris,  1880.  Another  vol- 
ume to  be  consulted  for  titles  of  books  typographically  interesting,  printed 
in  France  up  to  the  end  of  tlie  eighteenth  century  {eafiecially  tliose  that 
were  printed  at  the  Imprimerie  Royale  until  the  Revolution),  is  Rafifiort  du 
Co7nitt'  d' Installation  :  Musee  Retroafiectif  de  la  Classe  11,  Ty/iografihie  — 
Im/iressions  Diverges  (Materiel,  firocedes  et  firoduits)  A  P Exfiosition  Uni- 
verselle  Internationale  de  1900.  Paris.  The  successive  changes  in  the  types 
and  arrangement  of  title-pages  of  representati\'e  French  books  of  the  period 
we  are  treating  can  be  seen  from  the  facsimiles  in  Jules  Le  Petit's  Biblio- 
grafihie  des  Princifiales  Editions  Originales  d' Ecrixmins  Franqais  du  XV^ 
an  XVIII^  siMe.  Paris,  1888.  The  work  of  the  seventeenth  century  is  par- 
ticularly well  represented  under  Comeille,  Racine,  and  Moliere. 

M.  F.  Thibaudeau's  La  Lettre  d' Imfirimerie —  Origine,  Develofifiement, 
Classification ;  et  12  Notices  illustrees  sur  les  Arts  du  Livre  (2  vols.,  Paris, 
1921)  is  a  study  of  French  printing-types,  their  development  and  use.  It 
is  valuable  for  its  notices  of  French  type-founding,  printing,  etc.,  from  the 
Gothic  period  to  the  end  of  the  last  century.  As  the  author  writes  fram  the 
historical  rather  than  the  critical  point  of  view,  the  book  is  not  intended  to  be 
a  guide  to  the  choice  of  types.  It  is  elaborately  illustrated,  though  many  of 
the  examples  have  been  already  utilized  by  Bouchot  and  I^  Petit.  M.  Marius 
Audin's  Le  Livre :  sa  Tec/inic/ue,  son  Architecture  (Lyons,  1921)  takes  up 
the  different  styles  of  ty^e  in  vogue  since  the  introduction  of  printing  in  France. 
A  line  or  two  of  each  type  —  or  tlie  nearest  equivalent  available — begins  these 
notices.  An  excellent  feature  is  the  citation  of  titles  of  books  that  are  printed 
from  the  types  described. 


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QUINTI 

HORATIl    FLACCI 

CARMINUM 

LIBER     QUARTUS. 


I 


ODE     I. 

AD     VENEREM. 

Intermissa,  Venus,  diu 
Rursus  bella  moves.  Parce,  precor,  precorl 

Non  sum  qualis  eram  bonae 
Sub  regno  Cinarae.   Desine,  dulcium 

Mater  saeva  Cupidinum, 
Circa  lustra  decern  flectere  mollibus 

lara  durum  imperils.   Abi 
Quo  blandae  iuvenum  te  revocant  preces. 


167.  Page  of  folio  Horace:  Pierre  Didot.,  Paris^  1799 
{reduced) 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  233 

II 

TYPES  used  in  the  books  described  could  almost  all  be 
purchased  from  foundries  of  their  respective  periods; 
but  there  were  important  types  which  could  not  be  thus 
secured,  that  owed  their  existence  to  government  subven- 
tion. The  Crown  had  paid  attention  to  fine  types  and  print- 
ing in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  there  were  royal  printers 
as  early  as  1487,  of  whom  Pierre  Le  Rouge  was  the  first. 
Geofroy  Tory  was  an  impnmeur  du  roi^  and  Frangois  I, 
somewhere  about  1539,  conferred  on  Robert  Estienne  the 
title  of  Royal  Printer  for  Hebrew  and  Latin,  and  in  1538 
made  Conrad  Neobar  King's  Printer  for  Greek.  After  Neo- 
bar's  death,  Robert  Estienne  united  in  himself  the  func- 
tions of  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  typographer,  and  there 
were  in  later  times  royal  printers  for  music,  mathematics, 
and  Oriental  tongues.  These  royal  printers  in  Hebrew, 
Greek,  and  Latin  probably  owed  their  posts  to  the  institu- 
tion of  five  lecteurs  royaux  {lectores  regit)  by  Frangois  I  in 
1530,  appointments  which  were  the  origin  of  the  College 
de  France.  This  foundation,  sometimes  known  as  College  de 
Trois-Langues,  was  to  encourage  studies  in  Greek,  Hebrew, 
and  the  Latin  classics,  and  incidentally  to  counterbalance 
the  scholastic  view  of  education  to  which  the  University  of 
Paris,  and  particularly  the  Sorbonne,  was  committed.  There 
were  t\^'o  readers  for  Greek,  three  for  Hebrew,  and  another 
for  "  P eloquence  latine^''  and  it  was  natural  enough  that  royal 
readers  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  should  be  followed 

*  Defined  by  Lepreux  as  an  officer  of  the  crown,  in  principle  compensated, 
exclusively  entrusted  with  the  printing  either  of  decrees  of  authority  or  cer- 
tain specified  works,  and  therefore  enjoying,  in  order  to  guarantee  authentic 
and  pure  texts,  as  well  as  rapidity  of  publication,  certain  immunities  and 
advantages,  as  well  as  special  and  personal  privileges.  The  term  imfirimeur 
du  roi  furthermore  particularly  denoted  marked  artistic  ability  in  tlie  practice 
of  typography . 


234  PRINTING  TYPES 

by  royal  printers  {typographi  regit)  in  Latin,  Greek,  and 
Hebrew;  just  as  the  royal  types  {typi  rc^/z),  such  as  the 
grecs  du  ro?,  followed  in  due  course,  and  were  in  turn  housed 
by  the  Imprimerie  Royale  {typographia  regia). 

It  was  at  the  instance  of  Frangois  I  that  Claude  Gara- 
mond,  a  pupil  of  Tory,  and  the  first  and  perhaps  most 
distinguished  of  French  letter-cutters  and  type-founders, 
produced  his  famous  fonts.  His  roman  and  italic  types, 
called  carac^res  de  V  Universite^  were  cut  in  four  sizes,  in 
1540,  according  to  some  authorities.  Garamond  is  said  to 
have  based  his  roman  on  Jenson's  model,  but  on  comparing 
the  two  types,  this  appears  untrue.  Jenson,  to  whom  more 
credit  has  been  given  as  a  type  designer  than  is,  perhaps, 
altogether  his  due,  certainly  cut  (if  we  suppose  he  cut  the 
roman  types  of  the  De  Spires)  the  most  successful  roman 
letter  that  until  then  had  appeared.  As  design,  however,  it 
was  chiefly  a  clever  transcript  of  a  much  more  beautiful 
Humanistic  manuscript  hand.  Garamond,  in  his  new  roman, 
was  no  longer  reproducing  a  manuscript,  but  creating  letters 
to  be  considered  independently  as  types.  His  fonts  show  this. 
His  mastery  of  technique,  and  a  certain  conscious  elegance 
in  design,  remove  them  entirely  from  the  grave  simplicity 
of  Jenson's  letter.  At  the  time  that  Garamond's  types  were 
cut,  Jenson's  roman  types  were  famous,  and,  Jenson  being 
a  Frenchman,  of  course  it  was  natural  to  have  him  in  mind 
when  preparing  new  roman  types.  So  in  that  sense  Gara- 
mond modelled  his  type  upon  Jenson's  characters,  but  this 
does  not  mean  that  he  exactly  copied  their  design.  His  italic 
he  based,  he  admits,  on  the  Aldine  italic,  and  on  examina- 
tion there  is  a  certain  similarity,  although  it  is  much  freer 
in  effect,  owing,  among  other  things,  to  its  sloping  capitals. 
Garamond  is  nearer  to  Aldus  in  his  italic  than  he  is  to  Jen- 
son in  his  roman. 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  235 

Garamond's  roman  fonts  were  wonderfully  beautiful — 
clear  and  open.  The  very  small  loops  to  the  e's  and  the  nar- 
row a's  are  characteristic,  as  are  capitals  that  are  large  rela- 
tively to  lower-case  letters.  The  italic  capitals  slope  at  dif- 
ferent angles,  and  when  composed  with  the  lower-case  have 
a  restless  quality.  On  the  other  hand,  both  fonts,  especially 
the  italic,  have  a  delightful  unconventionality  of  design — 
free  and  spirited,  yet  noble;  full  of  contrast  and  movement, 
yet  with  elegance  and  precision  of  line  that  marks  them  as 
French^  {Jig.  168).  In  what  appears  to  be  one  of  these  fine 
roman  fonts,  Robert  Estienne  in  1549  printed  a  most  beau- 
tiful book — Paolo  Giovio's  Fitss  duodecim  Vicecomitum 
Mediolani  Pmicipum.  It  is  composed  throughout  in  one  size 
of  roman,  except  for  poetry,  which  is  set  in  two  sizes  of 
italic.  The  initials  are  the  work  of  Geofroy  Tory,  and  the 
ten  portraits  of  the  Counts  of  Milan  are  reduced  copies,  by 
Tory,  of  those  in  a  manuscript  in  the  Bibliotheque  Royale 
{Jig.  169).  Although  it  is  not  stated  that  the  book  is  printed 
from  Garamond's  types,  its  title-page  bears  the  celebrated 
mark  of  the  basilisk  and  the  Greek  motto  which  was  usu- 
ally employed  by  Estienne  in  his  books  printed  from  Gara- 
mond's royal  Greek  fonts.^ 

Garamond's  roman  and  italic  gave  the  gothic  character 
its  deathblow.  It  was  much  used  in  Italy,  England,  Hol- 

^  In  the  jivant-Profios  to  the  first  volume  of  Claudin's  Histoire  de  V  Impri- 
merie  en  France,  it  is  stated  that  a  modem  impression  of  Garamond's  types 
appears  in  the  Foreword  of  Volume  I,  Preface,  and  pages  A,  B,  C,  D,  and 
u  to  XXIV.  On  comparison  with  early  books  printed  from  tliese  types,  some 
slight  modifications  appear  to  have  been  made.  The  Garamond  types  are 
said  to  have  been  "retouched"  by  Luce  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
'  The  device  is  composed  of  a  spear  around  which  are  twined  olive  branches 
and  a  basilisk  v/ith  a  salamander's  head  —  emblems  of  wisdom  in  peace  and 
war.  Beneath  it  appears  the  punning  motto :  Bao-iAet  t'  dya^oJ  Kparipta  r'alx- 
p-yJTr},  "To  the  wise  King  and  the  valiant  Warrior,"  generally  accompanied 
by  the  words  Ty/iis  Jiegiis. 


236  PRINTING  TYPES 

land,  and  Germany,  either  in  fonts  which  were  sent  there, 
matrices  which  \vere  sold  there,  or  by  imitations.  In  Ger- 
many his  small  types  became  so  much  the  fashion  that  a 
German  type-body  was  named  "Garmond";  for  although 
Garamond  died  (in  1561)  in  poverty,  after  his  death,  says 
Vitre  sarcastically, "he  was  recompensed  by  tributes  with- 
out end" — of  which  this  was  one! 

Garamond's  famous  Greek  characters,  the  typi  regii^ 
grecs  du  roi,  or  royal  types,  were  cut  about  the  same  time.^ 
Their  design  was  based  on  the  handwriting  of  a  clever 
calligrapher,  Angelos  Vergetios  —  '"''jiotre  ecrivaiji  en  grec,^^ 
as  Frangois  I  styled  him.  Garamond  was  employed  to  cut 
the  punches  of  these  types  under  the  direction  of  Robert 
Estienne,  and  they  were  completed,  apparently,  by  1541. 
They  were  in  three  sizes.  These  fonts  were  intended  to 
reproduce  as  closely  as  possible  the  Greek  handwriting  of 
that  day  as  exemplified  by  Vergetios'  fine  manuscripts; 
and  although  this  was  not,  from  a  present-day  point  of  view, 
an  advantage,  it  was  thought  to  be  so  then.  Garamond 
certainly  achieved  exactly  what  he  intended,  for  the  calli- 
graphic appearance  of  the  type  is  striking  enough;  in  fact, 
rather  disagreeably  marked  in  its  largest  size.  Fournier 
states  that  no  Greek  characters  save  these  possessed  prac- 
tically all  known  ligatures.  One  of  Garamond's  reforms 
was  the  adoption  of  larger  and  more  adequate  Greek  capi- 
tals, which  replaced  the  small  and  unimportant  capitals  in 
current  use.  Robert  Proctor  said  of  this  Greek  type  that  "it 
was,  and  is,  by  far  the  best  type  of  its  kind  that  has  ever  been 
cut. ...  I  believe,"  he  adds,  "that  an  English  type-founder 
of  to-day  would  add  his  testimony  to  that  of  the  French 

*  Greek  typography  was  introduced  into  France  by  the  Parisian  printer  Gilles 
de  Gourmont  as  early  as  1507,  but  his  types  were  superseded  by  Garamond's 
g-recs  du  roi. 


^ 


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PAVLI    lOVII    NOVOCOMEN- 

fis  m  Vitas  duodecim  Vicecomitum  Mediolani 
Principum  Prxfatio. 

E  TVS  TAT  EM  nobi- 
liffimac  Vicecomitum  fami- 
lixqui  ambitiofiusaprgealta 
Romanoru  Cxfarum  origi- 
ne,  Longobardifq;  regilpus 
dedudo  ftemmatc ,  repete- 
re  contedunt,  fabulofis  pe- 
ne  initiis  inuoluere  viden- 
tur.  Nos  autem  recentiora 
illufl:noraque,vtf  ab  omnibus  recepta,fequemur:c6- 
tentique  erimus  fnfigni  memoria  Heriprandi  &  Gal- 
uanii  nepotis ,  qui  cximia  cum  laude  rei  miiitaris,  ci- 
uilifque  prudentix,  Mediolani  principem  locum  te- 
nuerunt.Incidit  Galuanius  in  id  tempus  quo  Medio- 
lanum  a  Federico  AEnobarbo  deletu  eft,  virfumma 
rerum  geflarum  gloria ,  &r  quod  in  fatis  fuit,  infigni 
calamitate  memorabilis .  Captus  enim ,  &  ad  trium- 
phum  inCermaniam  dudus  fuiffe  traditur:  fed  non 
multo  pdft  careens  catenas  fregit,  ingentique  animi 
virtute  non  femel  csefis  Barbaris,vltus  iniurias,patria 
reftituit.Fuit  hic(vt  Annales  ferunt)Othonis  nepos, 
cias  quiab  infigni  pietatemagnitudincqueanimi,ca 
nente  illo  pernobili  clalTico  excitus,  adfacrii  bellum 
inSyriam  contendit,communicatis  {cilicct  confiliis 
atque  opibus  cii  Guliermo  Montifferrati  regulo,qui 
aproceritate  corporis,  Longa  fpatha  vocabatur.  Vo- 

kluntariorum  enim  equitum  ac  peditum  deledx  no- 
A»iii. 


169.  Roman  Type  {GaramoJid?)  used  by  Estienne,  Paris^  1549 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  237 

experts  who  have  treated  this  subject,  that  for  evenness  of 
colour,  for  precision  of  casting,  and  for  the  exactness  of 
ahgnment  and  justification,  these  founts  are  unsurpass- 
able."^ All  three  types  are  shown  in  the  illustration  (^'^.  1 70). 

These  Greek  types  were  first  employed  in  an  edition 
of  the  Prxparatio  Evangelica  of  Eusebius,  issued  by  Robert 
Estienne  in  1544 — a  magnificent  folio,  printed  in  the  second 
size  of  type  {givs-rojuain)^  which  was  the  font  finished  ear- 
liest, and,  of  the  three,  made  the  finest  books.  The  largest 
size  igros-parangon)  was  used  in  a  folio  edition  of  the  New 
Testament  issued  in  1550  by  Robert  Estienne.  The  small- 
est of  them  (cicero)  had  already  been  employed  in  a  16mo 
New  Testament  (known  as  "O  Mirificam"),  printed  by 
Robert  Estienne  in  1546.  He  says  in  his  preface:  "O  the 
marvellous  liberality  of  our  King,  that  most  excellent  and 
noble  prince !  for  feeling  that  such  were  needed  to  bring 
together  into  a  narrow  compass  books  of  large  volume,  he 
bade  engrave  these  smaller  Greek  characters,  which  in  ele- 
gance rival  the  former,  though  these  were  of  all  letters  the 
most  beautiful.  These  having  been  delivered  to  me  for  the 
good  of  the  world  of  letters,  how  could  I  better  inaugurate 
their  use  than  by  a  sacred  text,  and  what  text  is  more  holy 
and  august  than  the  Gospel?" 

One  of  the  most  exquisite  books  printed  from  these 
fonts  is  Charles  and  Robert  Estienne's  Greek  edition  of 
Appiani  Alexandrini  Romananim  Historianim^  published  in 
1551.  All  three  sizes  of  type  are  used  in  it.  The  type  in 
mass,  and  the  proportion  and  imposition  of  the  type-page, 
are  very  splendid,  and  there  is  another  reason  for  looking 
at  it.  The  superb  decorations  and  initials  by  Tory,  which 
are  employed  in  all  the  Greek  editions  mentioned,  are 
wonderful,  in  their  accord  with  the  colour  of  the  Greek  text, 

'  Transactions  of  the  Bibliographical  Society,  Vol.  VII,  p.  57. 


238  PRINTING  TYPES 

in  their  printable  qualities,  and  in  their  grace  of  design 
{Jig.  171).  The  most  brilliant  impression  of  them  is  found 
in  the  Eusebius.  They  are  among  the  best  of  the  printed 
decorations  used  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

Garamond's  caracteres  de  rUniversite^  in  four  sizes  of 
roman  and  italic,  and  the  grecs  du  roi  in  three  sizes,  became 
the  nucleus  of  the  magnificent  collection  of  types  now  be- 
longing to  the  Imprimerie  Nationale  de  France.  Up  to  the 
date  of  the  foundation  of  the  Imprimerie  Royale,  under 
Richelieu  and  Louis  XIII,  there  had  been,  as  we  know. 
King's  Printers,  who  had  charge  and  use  of  typographical 
material  belonging  to  the  Crown  —  such  as  the  Garamond 
types  just  mentioned.  This  material  was  held  as  a  sort  of 
deposit,  confided  to  the  care  of  a  director,  and  when  type 
\\  as  needed  it  was  cast  from  the  "royal"  moulds  and  ma- 
trices by  such  founders  as  the  director  selected.  Thus,  in  a 
sense,  Francois  I  was  the  founder  of  the  Imprimerie  Royale, 
for,  as  Bernard  says,  the  types  and  not  the  structure  where 
they  are  preserved  are  the  essential  part  of  a  printing-house. 

Attention  had  been  directed  to  scholarly  typography  early 
in  the  seventeenth  century  by  three  incidents  —  the  ac- 
quisition at  Geneva  in  1619  of  the  matrices  of  the  Royal 
Greek  types,  and  in  1632  of  the  Oriental  fonts  belonging 
to  Savary  de  Breves ;  and  by  the  publication  of  the  Paris 
Polyglot  of  Le  Jay — on  which  Richelieu  cast  an  envious 
eye.  Then,  too,  about  the  middle  of  the  century,  the  Elzevirs 
were  at  the  height  of  their  reputation,  and  were  printing 
books  in  Holland  which  attracted  Richelieu's  attention.^  In 

'  Richelieu  took  some  personal  interest  in  printing,  for  he  set  up  a  private 
press  at  the  Chateau  de  Richelieu.  The  editions  produced  there  had  consid- 
erable excellence  both  as  to  type  and  presswork.  Tlie  types  imitated  in  size, 
st}ie,  and  compactness  the  Elzevir  fonts,  and  are  said  to  have  come  from 
the  Jannon  foundry  at  Sedan,  which  produced  a  small  type  much  in  vogue  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  ca}lQd.  fietite  sedanoise. 


f  >  r^       ""^  /  » 

K^-mMMSxxiiv.K^  T^^^  ^'A/ga  K^^W^VO  Po/^W/b^  ,  |';^;pg  ^^^^./(^ow  y,%^ 
TE  TT^/Jvlct  <pi^vazq,x^  vrvpyt^  ^  ILCff;^cC5  'ouclc,  e7nvdoiou'i7nyo<l  it  (c  gy  ^^. 

Viy^ay^'TB,  civ  v^  A  iccf  'i^,^  ^  ^i^^oTTepc  '/^J^u/u^t  ,  ^  /f  Tih^'^ma.,  yi^jjui.):mt.  e<ratyut7n  7ia)  usrof 
^OM  ly/Ji'n  fp^f  KafcrapuYjH^ juji^i  ri  Ahdicu/<fp\i'ii  ty. iltla/ufAAi^aa ,e\z ov  J>}:a.-m-7!Tu,Ki  liujiizcJaUiJh^c/i- 
,  ii^-npov  iihccy^a-la/;.Juiu^Tti  tIw  /u&p  ^^oAojjcw  ?{«;  VujuajK^^y  ck  tw  ^/efuajot'  >jtt/uBayfir,  Avffxm  •duu  a- 
jcoito  MS^Lu  ,  "Ma  y^  -dui  f^u-p.cw  u^iM^SdMUf  ok  ^f  <li/.(fyyucnco^a'v  aipcn'^tJi/ji^'  -ntf  futa^yi; ,  ok 
wA/i)>of7a<  <fi  y^^  4>C'f 'jpgjt'^wf  ,  cfc;?  :tnpoy7i(  A'ZTncucd  ■  a(f  cv  ^tct^t^a/^cf « j6;4»:^Vv  ♦/*?  fcAJW 
^'w  A£/^i/?z)w)(5tf  Ayray'tov,  kpu'oIh?  7Jt/7r;f  ^  Vu^fMuon  rs^q  Aqv-tPUi;  a^i  KMoirnTfeLC^c,iS.tt ,  ivn  ti, 
lovcfix:i>ut,Kj'^  ncvTjKa.,^'^  AatuKs^yo'ig  o  T^'iccvo:  ^a/i-z^yowaTr,^  7i  I/3«e^vjt,j^^  Arr/^a^'>yx,^  n  K«r^- 
^KicQtigyCV  Jlinv  (tola  ffVYt^Kpi'Ttv^^K 

170.  Garamoncfs  Grecs  dii  Roi  {three  sizes) 


AnniANOY   AAESANAPEnS    PHMAI- 
KaN    KEATIKH. 

E  A  T  O I  Vcofjj^oi^  iTTi'^ifno^  'Sr^^ir/,  ^  r  Pt«>- 

<fpa,7ictiix(^i^Arixi]i  iii  rLu  ItslXiom-Ico  yjji  cloiIuj 

/X^  ^  ^toTzz  Qdioi,  KeAiiKov  idvoc  ')yiCj.a}hcpoL,'ny  i- 
7niA%  PaJ/<5V0'5, W  cui'nig  Tdjo^  'Z'dATnKioi  (AJt*^- 

Xff.yiqa,,/ui-L^i.  (idxcomv  ol^ol/'n^j;,'^  tc^ipl  i^  TiTZijsTzi-Xiic,  Jl'dQiivTUi  oiet  azcoi 
CitVy'iva,  (X*}  VS.T  cujTLi>v  cyiii^in  to.  Sh^TO.'  ^cLT^inwv  S\  t^  u^ru"/^  ^dLvmS^v 
•n^'^  oyso^^  CLu>  (^ori  •m'^qa.  iUyii^ou;  iivccj-nc(.7ix'77^yiE,iiv  y>  uSi  1st),  TraAe- 
fjuovc,  \s<JU.'^oh  Sh^TCt)})  a.(pec2t,  yj^  i'Zir  cui-vi  1g.y^\ajt  'fkiy^ipYicnv  •Xs/^Si  ^b^iztlut 
chc  ioaaTo.  aVjra,  a.  Pajt^oi  K^iAsuoz  VYiojDt^,c,v?\3u  nT^ayavov  tb  rijuutrVy  y^'Q 

oilu  'v^sro  rci)/^Cx)t/1sTB  i<:p%ipy,o^jj  Tr^cfjxx.Tict.^'Aovc,  S\  TmAiv  KeAtdi^  cyvixs!' 
TloTn^^to^,  x^  /uiT  (y>oiivcv  Xsic,  ccwnic,  KoLjUi^oi  o  toJ  Kol/m^ou  ^oi-i'pjai  3  )(^ 
KiXrzov  JO,  ricio?\9C  A//xtA/o$  ^TTScjA.cnrC^  Sit(sv  Mete^ov  VTTo.'nicJv ^'Trf^i^'P'v 
u  vj^  iMX-yt/u^Tomv^  Ty  tie  yiAixacc  /uaXiga.  <?o/3e^a)7a'7°i/ "Vf  >?/x^  YiiXizov  e/$  t 
ItuAicu  ^  liuj  Ta(.Aef.7lca im(iaLAe,ij  cuixi  VTuxhv,  P(x)/^ct}V  c^iM^ai ,  ^  <rPcc^ 

yj)  /ue-)4c^^u}i  h  Ta,X3iQj;  I'u/j^cii  vn^z^r^f/iyS/lav  o^^'C:ziJv  Tola  KctjQ>i 

i(fpccr>:yvtT,v,ii ^ipcc^  r)A%yi\Tii  Jtp'  gp'^^fp  crzcu<tylypi,TB7^ci,yj:<nuv  vrhifo- 
ci  .3(54  IsivtCajv  £-<^7T)1/  (wV  iQooy^noAP,  iKS'-'^i'  <^  c^  "Tzfinivci)  HS(-'^KSl-l'OV,idvr)  Si  TE- 

cLvruiv  dvfxxcL  jW^p^  >(^'n<^/;e,7:ti''nJC?^<rt>C5C  ^t/jioj^  'T^lS'icov  "^^rjCctAcJ^  ^9  '^jva 


171.  Pfl^^  of  Grec  du  Rot:  EsUenne^  Par'is^  1551  {reduced) 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  239 

a  letter  written,  apparently,  at  Richelieu's  instance,  to  Bras- 
set,  French  Ambassador  in  Holland  in  1640,  by  Sublet  de 
Noyers,  he  said:  "I  have  had  for  a  long  time  the  design 
of  establishing  a  royal  printing-office  at  the  Louvre,  and 
because  I  wish  to  execute  everything  in  it  with  the  great- 
est possible  perfection,  and  I  learn  that  in  Dutch  printing- 
offices  they  have  a  secret  method  of  making  ink  which  ren- 
ders the  impression  of  the  letter  much  more  beautiful  and 
distinct,  and  that  it  is  something  which  cannot  be  made  in 
France,  and  also  that  there  are  a  large  number  of  printers 
in  the  country,  at  Amsterdam,  Leyden,  Blaen,  and  else- 
where, who  would  perhaps  be  very  glad  to  come  to  earn 
their  living  here,  I  beg  you  will  take  the  trouble  to  inform 
yourself  if  it  is  possible  to  find  workmen  in  said  printing- 
offices,  at  least  four  pressmen  and  four  compositors,  and 
among  them,  if  possible,  one  who  knows  how  to  make  this 
printing-ink,  and  to  arrange  with  them  at  once  for  the  ex- 
penses of  their  journey  and  their  maintenance,  as  reasonably 
as  possible  and  as  between  private  persons;  for  it  is  not 
well  to  mix  up,  in  any  way  whatever,  the  name  of  the  King 
in  this  business,  nor  to  disclose  our  plan  to  foreigners  who 
may  wish  in  some  way  to  hinder  it.  You  can,  if  you  choose, 
say  that  it  is  Monsieur  Cramoisy,  the  Paris  publisher,  who 
has  undertaken  some  big  piece  of  work,  who  has  asked 
you  about  the  matter." 

Six  months  after  this,  on  November  17,  1640,  the  Im- 
primerie  Ro3^ale  du  Louvre  was  installed,  with  the  required 
number  of  workmen.  De  Noyers  had  charge  of  its  admin- 
istration, but  its  first  director  was  Sebastien  Cramoisy — 
whom  Richelieu  originally  intended  to  appoint  as  printer 
to  the  French  Academy.  John  Evelyn,  on  a  visit  to  Paris 
in  1644,  speaks  of  seeing  "the  King's  printing-house  and 
that  famous  letter  so  much  esteemed.  Here,"  he  adds,  "I 


240  PRINTING  TYPES 

boug»ht  divers  of  the  classic  authors,  poets  and  others."  In 
1642,  a  volume  appeared  from  the  presses  of  the  Imprimerie 
Royale  in  "  that  famous  letter"  of  which  Evelyn  speaks.  No 
doubt  great  pains  were  taken  with  the  book,  for  it  was  writ- 
ten by  the  founder  of  the  press  —  Richelieu  ;  its  title  being, 
Les  Principaux  Poincts  de  la  Foy  Catholiqiie  Defendus^  etc. 
This  magnificent  piece  of  printing  employs  Garamond's 
splendid  roman  and  italic  types.  The  Address  to  the  King, 
in  italic  ^jig.  168),  is  specially  to  be  noticed.  The  very  nar- 
row measure  of  the  pages  permits  notes  to  be  placed  in  the 
margin  without  loss  of  effect.  Although  the  impression  is 
uneven,  its  appearance  as  a  whole  is  sumptuous  and  im- 
posing. Above  all,  it  is  readable — the  quality  by  which  a 
book  must  finally  stand  or  fall  {^jig.  172). 

Publii  Terentii  Comoedise,  also  printed  in  1642  at  the 
Imprimerie,  is,  like  some  other  classics  in  folio  from  this 
press,  cumbrous  in  style.  It  is  printed  from  a  monotonous 
old  style  font,  with  a  heavy  impression,  and  so  large  a  type 
is  used  that  there  are  many  "turn-over"  lines.  Its  decora- 
tions— except  for  a  truly  superb  engraved  title-page — are 
not  remarkable ;  but  the  management  of  massed  capitals  at 
the  beginning  of  each  play  is  clever  and  distinguished.  It 
is  an  example  of  the  "divers  classic  authors"  that  Evelyn 
bought  on  his  visit  to  this  press  two  years  later. 

The  first  book  issued  by  the  Imprimerie  Royale  (in  1640) 
was  a  folio  De  Imitatione  Christi.  Other  fine  books  of  the 
early  period  were  the  Introduction  a  la  vie  devote  of  St. 
Francis  de  Sales  of  1641;  a  Greek  Testament  and  a  Latin 
Bible,  both  folio,  published  in  1642;  the  acts  of  the  General 
Councils,  etc.,  in  thirty-seven  volumes,  the  first  of  which 
was  printed  in  1644;  Tasso's  Gen/saleninw  JJberata  (iGAi), 
a  very  heavy  performance  typographically,  but  with  agree- 
able decorations;  besides  folio  editions  of  Virgil,  Horace, 


•J^  Vi    .'      »    J.    4^    JL    '^*    d     »      I      t      » 


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«3 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  241 

Terence,  Juvenal,  and  other  authors.  During  the  first  ten 
years  of  the  existence  of  this  press  some  hundred  vohimes 
were  printed. 

In  1692,  Louis  XIV  ordered  a  new  series  of  types,  to  be 
used  exclusively  by  the  Imprimerie  Royale  and  to  be  pro- 
duced without  any  thought  of  expense.  To  decide  on  what 
this  new  character  should  be,  a  commission  was  appointed 
by  the  Academic  des  Sciences,  of  which  Jaugeon^  was  the 
most  active  member.  Grandjean,^  first  accredited  royal  type- 
cutter,  was  chosen  to  engrave  the  punches  —  in  which  he  is 
said  to  have  been  helped  by  his  friend  and  pupil,  and  suc- 

'  It  was  in  this  connection,  no  doubt,  that  Jaugeon,  in  collaboration  witli  Tru- 
chet  (a  Carmelite  and  a  A'ersatile  mechanician) ,  and  M.  Filleau  des  Billetes,  of 
Poitou,  prepared  for  the  Academic  a  treatise  on  typography,  which  was  to 
be  part  of  a  collection  entitled  Descrifition  et  Perfection  des  Arts  et  Metiers. 
This  covered  the  art  of  designing  letters,  of  cutting  their  punches,  of  letter- 
press printing,  and  of  book-binding.  Though  some  of  tlie  plates  illustrat- 
ing the  book  were  engraved  —  among  them  the  celebrated  diagram  of  2023 
squares  on  which  letters  were  to  be  designed  —  tlie  manuscript  was  never  pub- 
lished and  is  now  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale.  Jaugeon' s  elaborate  theory 
of  designing  types  was,  after  years  of  neglect,  put  into  practice,  and  a  series 
of  types  called  Caracth'es  Jaugeon  was  cut  by  HenafFe  for  the  Imprimerie 
Nationale  in  1904. 

^  According  to  De  Fontenai,  Philippe  Grandjean  de  Pouchy,  of  an  old  family 
of  Macon,  was  born  in  1666.  When  in  Paris,  early  in  life,  a  friend  took  him 
to  see  a  printing-office.  In  examining  its  types  he  thought  he  saw  ways  of 
bettering  them.  Designing  some  capital  letters  for  amusement,  he  succeeded 
so  well  that  his  essays  were  shown  to  M.  De  Poncharti-ain,  who  mentioned 
Grandjean's  work  to  Louis  XIV.  In  consequence,  Gi-andjean  was  ordered  to 
enter  the  royal  service  to  occupy  himself  with  printing.  Through  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Abbe  Bignon,  the  well-known  bibliophile,  Grandjean  made  new 
models  for  punches  and  matrices  for  the  Imprimerie  Royale  and  invented 
several  appliances  for  shortening  and  perfecting  the  work  of  a  type-cutter. 
The  romain  du  roi  designed  for  the  Imprimerie  made  his  reputation.  "M. 
Grandjean,"  says  Foumier,  "  who  assisted  the  progress  of  this  new  foundry, 
also  had  charge  of  it;  he  maintained  it  always  in  the  different  localities  in 
which  he  lived,  the  last  place  being  his  house  near  the  Estrapade  at  the  en- 
trance to  the  Rue  des  Postes,  from  which  it  was  transported  to  tlie  Louvre 
in  1 725,  to  be  joined  with  the  offices  there,  tlius  forming  a  complete  printing- 
house." 


242  PRINTING  TYPES 

cesser,  Alexandre.  The  committee  worked  for  several  years 
to  get  things  to  its  mind.  The  result  of  all  this  cogitation 
was  the  ivmaiii  dii  ro'i — comprising  twenty -one  different 
bodies  of  roman  and  italic,  and  twenty  bodies  of  roman  and 
italic  initials:  in  all,  eighty-two  complete  fonts. 

These  types,  begun  in  1693,  were  only  finished  in  1745. 
They  were  marked  as  "royal"  fonts  in  an  odd  way  — 
by  a  little  projection  on  the  left  of  the  shank  of  the  lower- 
case 1  at  the  height  of  a  short  lower-case  letter.  This  annoy- 
ing feature  of  an  otherwise  beautiful  font  has  been  con- 
tinued on  the  1  of  roman  letters  cut  for  the  Imprimerie 
ever  since.  It  has  been  said  that  1  was  selected  by  order  of 
Louis  XIV  —  who,  by  the  way,  esteemed  Grandjean's  types 
so  highly  that  he  refused  the  request  of  Philip  V  of  Spain 
for  a  set  of  the  punches.  In  some  early  gothic  types  a  sim- 
ilar mark,  derived  from  manuscripts,  also  appeared  on 
the  left  of  the  1.  The  best  of  Grandjean's  mmain  du  roi 
fonts  were  employed  in  a  magnificent  folio,  Medailles  sur  les 
Principaux  Evenements  du  Hegne  de  Louis  le  Grand,  avec  des 
Explications  Histoiiques.  Par  r  Academic  Roy  ale  des  Inscrip- 
tions ^Medailles  {Jig.  173).  This  book  was  printed  at  the 
Imprimerie  Royale  in  1702.^  An  enlarged  folio  edition  cov- 
ering the  entire  reign,  with  different  explications,  was  is- 
sued in  1723  ;  but  as  it  is  printed  on  rougher  paper,  it  does 
not  show  the  peculiarities  of  the  characters  so  clearly.  A 
good  modern  impression  of  these  fonts  may  be  seen  in  the 
work  printed  by  the  Imprimerie  Nationale  in  1889,  en- 
titled Cuivres  de  Cochin  destines  a  C Histoire  de  Louis  XV 
par  Medailles.  This  book,  intended  to  be  a  continuation  of 
the  similar  volumes  devoted  to  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV,  was 
never  completed,  but  these  designs  made  for  it  by  Cochin 

'  A  quarto  volume,  with  much  the  same  title,  also  published  in  1702,  does 
not  employ  tliese  types,  and  is  not  to  be  confused  with  the  yb/zo  edition. 


«    g    2  'iS  4i  ■=    3    3  .y  -    «J    c/5  ;S    U  -, 

^  j=  ~  ■ "  1?  ii  ':i  3  5 .=?^  ::^  "H .«  Q  -^ 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  243 

have  been  published.  In  its  text  Grandjean's  italic  type^ 
is  beautifully  displayed  {Jig-  174), 

Grandjean's  type  was,  Bernard  says,  "a  type  friendly  to 
the  eye" —  and  at  first  sight  it  seems  to  be.  There  was  about 
it,  however,  something  that  was  to  prove,  in  its  develop- 
ments, very  unfriendly  to  the  eye.  That  was  its  serif,"  which 
took  the  form  of  an  almost  unbracketed  line,  and  on  the  tops 
of  b,  d,  h,  i,  j,  k,  and  1  extended  on  both  sides  of  the  upright 
stroke.  A  page  printed  from  these  types  had,  owing  to 
the  number  of  fine  horizontal  serifs,  the  appearance  of 
being  ruled.  Jenson's  letters  had  very  thick  serifs  at  the 
bottom,  and  triangular  serifs  at  the  top.  Garamond's  fonts 
had  much  the  same  kind  of  serif,  but  refined.  Grandjean's 
thin  horizontal  serif  was  a  movement  toward  that  lightness 
of  effect  in  type  that  came  about  later,  but  which  was  then 
very  little  thought  of.  It  is  the  appearance  of  a  bad  element 
in  French  type-design,  and  is  important  in  the  history  of 
some  types  to  be  discussed  later.  This  was  not  all.  In  the 
capitals  the  contrasts  of  thin  and  thick  strokes  are  more 
marked.  The  italic  lower-case — beautiful  of  its  kind — ap- 
pears engraved.  It  is  a  very  decorous  type,  and  it  looks  as 
if  it  had  been  designed  in  accordance  with  rules — many 
rules.  It  was  of  the  lucubrations  of  the  committee  who  ar- 
ranged elaborate  diagrams  for  it  that  Fournier  le  jeiine  tx- 
claimed:  "Must  there  be  so  many  squares  to  make  an  O 
that  is  round,  and  so  many  circles  to  make  other  letters  that 
are  square !  "^  Yet  when  all  is  said,  Grandjean's  open,  clear, 

*  They  were  retouched,  it  is  said,  by  Luce  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
^  A  "serif,"  it  must  be  remembered,  is  a  short  cross-line  which  occurs  at 
the  ends  of  unconnected  lines  of  a  letter.  It  probably  originated  in  a  diffi- 
culty felt  by  cutters  of  inscriptions  on  stone,  who  found  that  if  strokes  of  let- 
ters terminated  without  some  curve  or  line,  they  appeared  unfinished.  To 
correct  this,  they  made  serifs. 
^  Manuel  Tkjfiografihique,  Vol.  I,  p.  xvii. 


244  PRINTING  TYPES 

wide  letters,  extravagant  of  space,  almost  read  themselves.  It 
is,  of  its  kind,  one  of  the  finest  types  extant. 

Grandjean  died  in  1714,  and  the  work  on  these  fonts  was 
carried  on  by  his  pupil,  Alexandre ;  and  Alexandre's  son-in- 
law,  Louis  Luce,  completed  them  in  1745.  All  these  men 
were  royal  type-cutters. 

The  next  important  type  acquired  for  the  Imprimerie 
Royale  was  that  of  Louis  Luce,  third  royal  type-cuttei-,  who 
between  1740  and  1770  designed  a  series  of  fonts  of  a  let- 
ter of  narrower  proportions  than  the  characters  we  have 
been  considering.  There  were  in  this  series  thirty  roman 
bodies  and  the  same  number  of  italic.  Luce  says  in  his 
advertisement  to  his  Essai  cVune  Nouvelle  Typographie^  of 
1771  (beautifully  printed  by  Barbou),  that  he  has  tried  to 
make  a  font  different  from  anything  which  the  Imprimerie 
Royale  has  employed,  and  in  the  Essai  he  shoA^s  Grand- 
jean's  letters  and  his  own  {jig.  175).  His  are  taller  and  nar- 
rower, or,  as  we  should  say  "condensed,"  giving  them  a 
cramped  appearance,  something  like  a  modern  French  type 
called  "Elzevier."  His  serifs  are  oblique,  and  on  the  left 
of  ascending  characters  only,  which  was  an  improvement ; 
for  Grandjean's  types  with  their  flat  tops  are  dazzling,  and 
their  alignment  is  too  perfect  for  good  effect  in  mass.  Luce's 
adoption  of  the  serif  on  the  left  only,  he  justified  on  the 
ground  that  all  types  originated  from  a  written  letter,  and 
that  in  forming  a  letter  with  a  pen,  one  would  start  from 
the  left.  He  says  that  it  is  partly  by  the  delicacy  of  the  serif 
that  he  has  differentiated  these  types  from  the  caracteres 
de  rUniversite  and  from  Dutch  types  of  his  time.  Of  the 
italic,  he  adds  that  he  has  purposely  simplified  its  shape; 

*  Essai  (Tune  Kouvelle  Tyfiografihie,  ornee  de  Vignettes,  Fleurona,  Tro- 
phies, Filets,  Cadres  llf  Cartels,  inventes,  dessines,  ilf  executes  par  L. 
Luce,  Graveur  du  Roi ,  fiour son  hnfirimerie  Royale.  Dediee  an  Roi.  ji Paris. 
De  C Imjirimerie  de  J .  Barbou,  rue  dea  Mathurins.  1771. 


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FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  245 

that  connecting  lines  are  lighter  and  there  are  fewer  tails 
to  the  letters.  In  the  romain  du  roi  types,  the  "complimen- 
tary" projection  on  the  lower-case  1  appears  on  the  left  of  the 
shank;  in  Luce's  types,  on  the  right.  Luce's  elongated  type, 
because  it  was  compact, was  adapted  to  poetry,where  broken 
lines  are  undesirable.  So  he  called  itpoetiqiie.  Although  Luce 
was  royal  type-cutter,  he  designed  these  types  as  an  indepen- 
dent venture,  and  intended  them  for  general  use  {Jig.  176). 

His  Essai  (Tune  Nouvelle  Typographie  shows  a  superb 
collection  of  ornaments  and  borders  made  to  accompany 
his  types.  These  are  designed  with  great  skill  from  a  deco- 
rative point  of  view,  are  wonderful  in  their  variety,  and  yet 
harmonize  with  one  another.  No  modern  type-foundry  has 
produced  a  more  magnificent  suite  of  appropriate  and 
"printable"  ornaments.  They  were  made  on  all  sorts  of 
bodies,  and  were  meant  to  take  the  place  of  engraved  bor- 
ders, which  were  then  the  fashion,  but  which  were  expen- 
sive, and,  furthermore,  involved  two  printings  {jig.  177). 

The  "approbation"  which  Luce's  book  received  in  1771 
politely  says  that  his  fonts  "prove  to  amateurs  that  the  art 
of  Garamond  is  susceptible  of  perfection."  The  Academic 
des  Sciences  in  1772  also  commended  especially  the  merit 
and  ingenuity  of  his  ornaments,  which  could  be  made  up 
into  head-bands,  allegorical  cartouches,  and  tail-pieces  at 
will ;  could  be  printed  with  the  type,  and  were  of  even  colour 
with  the  typography — never  the  case  when  borders  were 
engraved  on  copper,  which  was,  moreover,  much  more  costly 
{jig.  178).  In  1773,  by  order  of  Louis  XV,  the  whole  collec- 
tion was  bought  for  the  Imprimerie,  where  it  is  still.  Its  or- 
naments were  rightly  considered  more  important  than  its 
types,^  which,  as  they  had  been  sold  promiscuously  before 

*  The  types  were  recently  employed  for  Chapter  VI  of  Christian's  Debuts  de 
V Imfirimerie  en  France. 


246  PRINTING  TYPES 

their  purchase  by  the  Crown,  were  never  used  for  books 
printed  at  the  Imprimerie  itself. 

The  smallest  size  of  Luce's  new  type  had  already  been 
shown  in  a  delightful  litde  volume  of  eight  leaves,  called 
Epreuve  du  Premier  Alphabeth  Droit  et  Penche^  issued  in 
1740.  Up  to  that  time  the  type  known  as  la  petite  sedanoise 
was  the  smallest  extant.  But  having  called  that,  for  some 
reason  or  other,  alphabet  second,  French  logic  demanded 
that  there  be  a  first — and  this  was  it!  In  the  preface  to 
the  litde  book  both  these  types  are  shown  for  the  purpose 
of  comparison.  The  sedanoise  font  was  used  in  a  32mo  vol- 
ume printed  by  the  Imprimerie  Royale  in  1729  —  Phsedri 
Fabulse^  et  Piiblii  Syri  Seiitentix — and  the  interesting  Latin 
preface  makes  allusion  to  the  types,  which  are  clear  though 
minute ;  but  Luce's  Premier  Alphabeth  (also  called  perle)  is 
almost  impossible  to  read.  I  do  not  know  if  it  was  ever  em- 
ployed, except  in  the  charmingly  got  up  specimen.  Luce, 
who  died  in  1773,  was  succeeded  by  Fagnon,  the  last  of 
the  royal  type-cutters. 

The  Imprimerie  Royale  (which  has  changed  its  name 
with  various  changes  of  government,  being  Royale^  Impe- 
riaie,  de  la  Repuhlique^  du  Goiwernement^  Natiomde^  etc.),  as 
we  have  seen,  was  aided  by  royal  subventions,  and  thereby 
types  were  produced  which  never  would  have  existed  for 
commercial  reasons."  Royalty  and  the  Court  often  amused 
themselves  with  printing.  In  1648,  Louis  XIV,  then  a 
child  of  ten,  visited  the  newly  established  Imprimerie  du 
Louvre  and  "helped"  (how  much,  we  may  imagine)  to  pro- 

Efirewve  du  Premier  Alfihabeth  Droit  et  Penchc,  ornee  de  Quadres  et  de 
Cartouches,  g-raves  par  ordre  du  Roy  fiour  V  Imfirimerie  Royale  fiar  Louis 
Luce  Ijf  finiH  en  1740. 

U])  to  the  Revolution,  the  punches,  matrices,  and  a  certain  number  of 
presses  and  amount  of  material  belonged  to  tlie  State ;  the  remainder  to  the 
director,  who  managed  them  for  his  own  profit. 


CROS-ROMAIN  ROMAIN. 


L 


E  corps  eR  cette  fubflance  etendue ,  qui  compofe  I«  feconde 
partie  de  nous-menies. Si  nous  netions  que  des  fubflances  fpirituel- 
les,  nous  pourrions  ne  nous  occuper  que  de  ce qui  regarde  iefprit; 
mais  les  befoins  de  la  nature  nous  font  conlinuellement  fentir  la 
necefljte  de  prendre  foin  de  nos  corps 

Le  corps  eft  I'agent  de  Fame,  ainfi  nous  devons  I'entretenlr 
comme  un  ferviteur  fidele  :  mais  aufTi  nous  devons  le  tenir  tou- 
jours  dans  la  dependance  ,  6g  prendre  garde  qu  il  ne  fecoue  le 
joug  de  la  fervitude^  &>  n'ufurpe  I'empire:  cell  ce  qui  arrive  , 
lorfque  nous  nous  livrons  aux  paffions  violenies;  car  encore  une 
fois ,  nous  pouYons  refifter  a  leurs  efforts. 


L 


CROS'ROAIA/N  ITALIQUE. 


E  courage  eft  une  ardeiir  imfyatiente  dattaquer.  line  cra'inty 
ni  le  peril  y  nl  les  difficult e's.  Unjait  courageux ,  dit  Alontagne, 
tie  doit  pas  conclure  un  homme  vaillant.  Celui  qui  lejeroit  bien 
a  point  y  lejeroit  toujours  ^  a  toutes  occafions.  Si  ce'toit  habi- 
tude de  vertu  ^  non  une  Jail  lie  ,  elle  rendroit  pareillement  un 
homme  rejolu  a  tous  accidents ,  tel  Jeul  quen  compagnie ,  tel 
en  champ  clos  qu  en  une  bataille  :  car  quoi  quon  die  ^  il  riy  a 
pas  autre  vaillance  Jur  le  pave  ^  autre  au  camp, 

Aujfi  couiageusement  poztezoit-it  ime  mata'^ie  en  Son  tit , 
^u  une  btejjuze  au  camp  ,  ^  ne  czain'dzoit  non  ptus  fa  mozt  en 
Sa  maison  qu  en  un  assaut.  Nous  ne  '^ezzions  pas  un  meme  horn- 
me  ~donnez  'dans  ta  bieche  ,  7)' une  bzave  ajjuzance  ,  ifi  Se  touz- 

176.  Luce's  Types  Po^ttques  {roman  and  ttvo  versions  of  italic) 
From  Essai  d'une  JVouveUe  Tyfiografitiie,  Paris,  1771 


^..M  iij..-«Ti..iiiiMiM..^— «.i--i.ii— .1.. .■iii,iiiii,,iiii^,,mi)ii,i 


taoBsuaaejoa 


r^m.^^l'  '^ 


'■*«*^^l 


S'S 


i^f^«S||?^^J;;:;j 


"'^Vili^^^f^y^''^  '•■"-:iyc,t'?^yl^f:jpij.-s*ir>3:<riiy""  «»^ja3|^iSiS?«» 


177.  Luce's  Ornaments^  from  Essai  dhme  Nouvelle  Typographic^  Paris.,  1771 

(^reduced) 


T  R  OP  H  E 


ALLEGORIQUE 

A  L'A  U  T  O  M  N  E. 

Li  E QUINCKE  d'Automne  anivera  le  22  Septcml^re,  a  2 
heures  4.1  niin.  du  foir,  e  Soleil  entrant  dans  le  Signe  de  la 
Balance.  Il  entrera  dans  celui  du  Scorpionje  22  Odobre  a 
10  heures  23  min.  du  foir; dans  celui  du  Sagiltaire  !e  21 
1  Novembre,  a  6  h.  23  min.  du  foir,  &,  il  arrivera  au  Soiflice 
d'Hyver  le  21  Decembre,a  6  h.  39  minutes  du  matin. 


Septembre,  ejidre  du  noinbre  fipt,  qiie  ^on  exprimoit 
par  ie  mot  September,  jv^tw;  I'Edit  de  Charles  IX.  i  S64..  il 
c'tolt  lejepdtme  Mois  de  CAnnce  Roniaine, 


LE  fle;uron 

CI-DESSUSESTCOMPOSEDE  9PIECES. 

Le  Trophe  efl  coaipofe  de  7  pieces. 


2^^^^^\\ 


c  c 

178.  Luce's  Employment  of  his  Types  and  Ornaments 
Page  from  Essai  d'une  JVouvelle  Tyfiogralihie,  Paris,  1771 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  247 

duce  the  first  page  of  an  edition  of  the  Memoires  of  Philippe 
de  Commines.  Louis  X^^  was  taught  to  print  bv  Jacques 
Collombat,  a  distinguished  Parisian  printer  mentioned  by 
Fournier ;  and  a  miniature  printing-house  was  set  up  at  the 
Tuileries  in  1718,  where  the  little  bov  —  who  was  then  eiarht 
years  old — printed  some  lessons  in  geography  entitled 
Cours  des  piincipaux  Fleuves  et  Rivieres  de  P Europe.  Com- 
pose ^  im prime  par  Louis  XF  Roy  de  France  ^  de  Xavarre 
en  1718.  A  Paris.,  dans  Plmprimerie  du  Cabinet  de  S.  M. 
{fig.  179).  Some  forty  or  more  bits  of  printing  came  from 
this  office,  which  existed  up  to  1730.  The  mother  of  Louis 
X^'I  had  a  printing-office  at  Versailles  in  1758,  where  she 
set  up  and  printed  a  book  of  devotions,  and  the  Due  de 
Bourgogne  also  dabbled  in  typography.  Madame  de  Pom- 
padour occupied  herself  at  Versailles  in  1760  with  a  litde 
press.^  Louis  X\'I,  as  Dauphin,  \\as  taught  the  trade  bv 
Augustin  Martin  Lottin  (a  name  familiar  to  students  of  the 
history  of  French  printing),  and  in  1766,  when  he  was 
twehe,  produced  twenty-fi\e  copies  of  a  book — "all  him- 
self," as  children  sav — JMaximes  Jlora/es  et  Po/itiques  tirees 
de  Telemaque,  imp?imees  par  Louis  Augasfe,  DaupJiin.  At 
court  and  at  little  presses  setup  in  country  chateaux,  many 
fashionable  and  idle  people  played  with  printing,  much  as 
in  our  time  "unemployed"  persons  of  fortune  and  leisure 
have  played  with  book-binding  and  metal-work  —  \\hich 
they  abandoned  after  discovering  that  to  be  successful  de- 
manded more  work  than  play  !  No  doubt,  then,  as  \\o\\\  pro- 
fessionals concealed  from  amateurs  —  who  '' adored '"'  print- 
ing, or  were  "fascinated"  by  types — that  profound  weari- 

'  Tlie  Song  of  Songs  aiid  a  Precis  of  Ecclesiastes  b\-  \'^oltaire  were  pi-oduced 
under  her  supervision ;  and  tlie  King  summoned  a  detachment  of  woi'kmen 
from  tlie  Imprimerie  Royale,  v  lio  printed  for  her  Conieille's /?Aoa'o_§-:/r2<>, 
Pi-incesse  des  Parthes,  with  tlic  imprint  Jii  A^ord  —  as  Madame  dc  Pomj)a- 
dour's  apartment  was  situated  at  the  nortli  of  tlie  palace. 


248  PRINTING  TYPES 

ness  of  spirit  which  the  unlearned  enthusiast  has  ahvays 
produced  in  "the  man  who  knows  how"  ever  since  ante- 
diluvian idlers  pestered  Noah  while  building  the  Ark.  I 
can  fancy  the  sigh  of  relief  with  which  Collombat  saw  the 
"Principal  Rivers"  trickle  safely  and  expensively  to  the  sea 
— for  it  was  quite  an  expensive  operation !  To  all  these 
people  (as  Crapelet  says)  "the  press  was  only  a  plaything 
which  they  handled,  as  children  do  weapons,  without  fore- 
seeing the  misery  it  would  some  day  cause  them."  ^  But  many 
of  the  rulers  of  France  were  seriously  interested  in  print- 
ing, and  particularly  in  the  achievements  of  the  Imprimerie 
Royale." 

Ill 

FOURNIER  Paine  and  Fournier  lejeiine,  so  often  men- 
tioned in  the  history  of  French  type-founding,  were 
the  sons  of  Jean  Claude  Fournier,  who  received  his  train- 
ing in  the  Parisian  foundry  of  Jean  Cot.  He  later  became 
connected  with  the  Le  Be  foundry,  which  he  managed  for 
the  daughters  of  Le  Be  for  nearly  thirty  years.  By  his  mar- 
riage with  Anne  Catherine  Guyou  he  had  nine  children,  six 
boys  and  three  girls.  Of  the  boys,  three  died  in  childhood, 
and  the  remaining  brothers,  who  lived  to  mature  age,  were 
Jean  Pierre  Fournier,  usually  styled  Pame;  a  second  son, 
possibly  named  Frangois,^  who  was  a  printer  at  Auxerre, 
his  father's  birthplace;  and  Pierre  Simon  (who  occasionally 

*  The  Louis  XIV  roviain  du  roi  was  used  in  1790  to  print  Marat's  revolu- 
tionatT  pamplilets. 

'  For  productions  of  the  Imprimerie  Royale  up  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  see  Catalogue  Chronologique  des  Editions  in  Bernard's  Histoire  de 
C Imfirimerie  Royale  du  Louvre.  Paris,  1867. 

*  In  1 754  t)iere  was  but  one  printer  in  Auxerre :  tliis  was  Francois  Fournier, 
estabhshed  tliere  in  1742 :  Ra/ifiort  Sartirie.  In  the  Anisson  collection,  there 
are  letters  written  from  Auxerre  by  a  Founiicr,  printer,  in  1765  and  1771 . 


Rivieres  de  V ranee.        5 
LA    MAKNE. 

CEtte  Riviere  a  fa  fource 
en  Champagne  ,  a  une 
demie  lieue  au-deffus  de 
Langres  ,  d'ou  coulant  au 
Septentrion  elle  pafTe  a  Vi- 
try-le-Frangois  &  a  Chaa- 
lons  ;  paffant  a  TOccident 
par  Chateau-Thierry  &  par 
Meaux  ,  elle  fe  rend  enfin 
dans  la  Seine  pres  &  au-def' 
fous  de  Charenton, 
UOISE. 

CEtte  Riviere  a  fa  fource 
en  Picardie  ,  d'ou  cou- 
lant au  couchant  ,  &  peu 
apres  vers  le  Midy ,  elle  paffe 


179.  Page  composed  and  printed  by  Louis  XV  xuhen  a  Child 
Paris,  1718 


1 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  249 

transposed  his  Christian  names),  commonly  called  Fournier 
h  jeiine. 

The  eldest  of  the  three,  Jean  Pierre  Fournier,  was  born 
in  Paris  in  1706.  By  the  purchase  in  1730  of  the  Le  Be 
establishment,  which  his  father  had  superintended  until 
his  death  in  1729,  he  became  possessor  of  a  really  splendid 
foundry.  In  his  hands  it  had  a  great  reputation,  and  justly 
enough  —  for  it  was  a  noble  collection  of  beautiful  old  types, 
cut  by  masters  of  French  type  design.  In  two  scholarly 
letters  addressed  to  the  editor  of  the  Mercure  de  France^ 
Fournier  Vame  describes  its  treasures  in  a  way  that  shows 
how  much  he  appreciated  them.  He  specifies  such  an  as- 
semblage of  punches  and  matrices  by  Garamond,  Le  Be, 
Granjon,  and  Sanlecque,  as  make  it  from  our  point  of  view 
nowadays — as  it  was  held  by  the  discriminating  then — 
the  most  interesting  foundry  in  France. 

Fournier  Vaine^  who  was  himself  both  an  engraver  and 
founder  of  types,  lived  at  one  time  in  the  Rue  St.  Jean  de 
Beauvais  —  a  street  much  affected  by  his  craft.  He  married 
Charlotte  Madeleine  Pichault,  who  died  in  1764.  By  this 
marriage  he  had  a  son,  Jean  Francois  Fournier,  and  three 
daughters.  The  son  —  sometimes  styled  Fournier  fils  — 
married  Marie  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  the  type-founder 
Frangois  Gando  lejeune.  A  daughter  by  this  marriage  (ap- 
parently named  Sophie)  became  the  wife  of  the  notorious 
revolutionary  printer,  Momoro.^  They  had  a  son,  who  later 
assumed  the  name  of  Fournier. 

'See  Mercure  de  France,  May,  1756,  and  January,  1757,  for  his  letters 
giving  a  list  of  the  types  by  these  ancicui  type-cutters. 
'  Antoine  Frangois  Momoro,  a  turbulent,  visionary,  unbalanced  sort  of  per- 
son, an  adherent  of  the  Revolutionary  Hebert,  and  at  the  end  of  his  life 
mixed  up  in  the  promulgation  of  the  Culte  de  la  Raison  (1793-94),  being  at 
tliat  period  a  member  of  the  Commune  and  Departement  of  Paris.  A  speci- 
men called  E/ireuve  d' une [lartie  des  caractires  de  tafonderie  de  Ant.  Franq. 


250  PRINTING  TYPES 

Fournier  Pome  died  in  1783,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven, 
in  the  village  of  Monge,  and  after  his  death  the  foundry 
remained  in  the  hands  of  his  three  daughters,  \\ho  man- 
aged it  successfully  for  a  long  time.  According  to  Capelle, 
who  wrote  in  1826,^  on  the  death  of  the  sister  who  had 
taken  upon  herself  the  chief  direction  of  its  affairs  — which 
must  have  been  later  than  1811  —  the  foundry  was  dis- 
persed, its  punches,  matrices,  and  moulds  being  sold  to  dif- 
ferent type-founders.  It  is  likely  that  at  least  a  part  of  the 
material  of  Fournier  Vaine's  establishment  went  to  his  son, 
Fournier  ^/?. 

I  know  of  no  specimen  issued  by  Fournier  Vaine^  but  he 
supplied  tj'pes  to  illustrate  an  article  on  printing  that  ap- 
peared in  the  Encyclopedic  (Vol.  II,  p.  662).  He  also  lent 
many  of  the  types  shown  in  his  younger  brother's  Manuel^ 
and  fonts  from  his  foundry  appear  in  Pierres'  specimen 
of  1785.  His  son,  Fournier  ^/^,  however,  issued  an  interest- 
ing Greek  specimen"  in  1767,  which  comprised  the  work 
of  Granjon,  Hautin,  Deviliers,  and  Picart — the  first  two 
known  to  us  as  ancient  and  distinguished  type-cutters.  In 
the  same  year  he  issued  a  specimen  of  a  more  general  na- 

Momoro  was  issued  at  Paris  in  1787,  and  he  was  the  author  of  a  carelessly 
compiled  Traite  Elementaire  de  V Imfvimerie  (printed  after  1785)  and  a 
wretched  little  Manuel  des  Im/iosilions  Tyfwg^rapliigues,  i-eprinted  in  1789. 
Momoro,  who  seems  to  have  lost  his  head  more  than  once,  lost  it  definitively 
on  the  scaffold  in  1794,  in  the  tyi-anny  inaugurated  by  Robespierre.  Madame 
Momoro  (nee  Fournier)  has  sometimes  been  identified  with  the  woman 
impersonating  the  Goddess  of  Reason  in  the  fete  lield  at  Notre  Dame  on 
November  10,  1793.  But  the  fact  seems  to  be  that  Madame  Momoro  merely 
took  part  in  a  similar  fete  at  Saint- Andre-des-Arts,  which  tlien  stootl  not  far 
from  the  Rue  de  la  Harpe,  where  her  husband  lived  between  1789  and  1792. 
These  fetes,  generally  considered  orgies,  appear  usually  to  have  been  frigid, 
classical  affairs  of  exceeding  propriety  and  dulness. 
^Manuel  de  la  Tyfiographie  Franqaise,  Paris,  1826. 

^ Efireuve  de  Caract^res  Gr-ecs  de  la  Taille  de  quatre  Graueurs,  1767.  \_Car- 
acterea  Grecs  de  la  Taille  de  Robert  Granjon,  A^icolas  Deviliers,  Pierre  Hau- 
tin Isf  Jean  Picart. '\ 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  251 

ture/  and  in  1769  an  advertisement  of  his  material  in  the 
Mercure  de  France'  supports  the  theory  that  he  inherited 
some  of  his  father's  famous  old  characters.  x\bout  1787,  part 
of  his  foundry  was  sold  to  Henri  Haener  of  Nancy. 

I  think  that  Fournier  /'om^V  remarkable  collection  caused 
some  heart-burning  on  the  part  of  his  younger  and  more 
famous  brother.  Yet  it  was  to  him  that  Fournier  le  jeune 
entrusted  the  completion  of  his  son  Simon  Pierre's  technical 
education,  and  to  whom  on  this  account  he  left  a  bequest; 
also  making  him  his  executor.  For  he  seems  to  have  been, 
in  the  words  of  Lottin,  Homo  Antique  Fidei. 

Pierre  Simon  Fournier  le  jeune  was  born  in  Paris,  Sep- 
tember 15, 1712.  Although  the  education  of  his  older  broth- 
ers had  been  carefully  looked  after  by  their  father,  he  ap- 
pears to  have  been  the  spoilt  child  of  the  family:  living  with 
his  mother  in  the  country  until  she  died,  and  only  return- 
ing to  Paris  shortly  before  his  father's  death.  He  studied 
drawing  under  J.  B.  G.  Colson,  miniaturist  and  water-colour 
painter,  and  member  of  the  Academic  de  Saint-Luc.  This 
probably  helped  him  in  type-designing.  He  was  at  first  em- 
ployed by  his  elder  brother  in  cutting  wood-blocks  (possi- 
bly head-pieces,  etc.),  and  later  on  he  engraved  punches  for 
capital  letters,  of  the  kind  then  known  as  grosses  et  moyennes 
de  fonte^  a  size  hitherto  supplied  only  in  type  cut  on  wood. 
He  continued  his  work  by  producing  several  fonts  of  type 
and  some  tasteful  "flowers"  or  vignettes  de  fonte^  as  they  were 

^  Efireuves  des  Caract^res  a  I'usage  de  V Imlirimerie.  Avec  differentes  sortes 

de  Vignettes.  A  Paris:  Chez  Fournier  Fils,  Graveur  isf  Fondeur  en  Carac- 

th-es  d^ Imfirimerie,  rue  du  Foin  St.  Jacques  a  cote  de  la  Chambre  Syndi- 

cale  des  Libraires.  1767. 

'^Avis  in  Mercure  de  France,  March,  1769,  p.  208. 

^  The  oldest  type  ornaments  usually  consisted  of  a  simple  feuille  de  vigne  = 

vine-leaf = floret — from  which  in  France  the  term  -vignette  defonte  came  to 

be  applied  to  all  decorative  designs  cast  by  founders  for  use  with  letter-press. 

In  England,  they  were  caWediJlonvers ;  in  Germany,  roselein;  in  Spain,  vineta. 


252  PRINTING  TYPES 

called  in  France.  His  italic,  a  modernized  form  of  the  hand- 
somer, more  irregular  early  letter,  met  with  success  at  once. 

Fournier  It  jeune  began  to  formulate  his  point  system  in 
1737;  he  amplified  it  in  1742,  and  in  the  Manuel  of  1764 
gave  it  its  final  form — as  has  been  said  in  a  former  chapter. 
His  earliest  specimen  (in  oblong  folio)  is  entitled  Modeles 
cles  Caracteres  de  r Iinpiimerie  et  des  autres  choses  necessaires 
audit  Aii.  Nouvellement  Graves  par  Simon-Pietre  [sic]  Four- 
nier  le  jeune,  Graveur  y  Fondeur  de  Caracteres.  A  Paris ^  Rue 
des  Sept  Voyes^  vis-a-vis  le  College  de  Reims,  1 742  ^  {Jig.  1 80). 
This  was  printed  for  Fournier  by  Jean  Joseph  Barbou,  and 
is  one  of  the  most  effective  and  elegant  books  of  its  kind 
ever  issued  in  France.  The  preface  is  set  in  Fournier's  bril- 
liant, modelled  italic,  and  then  follows  a  beautiful  collection  of 
types,  beautifully  presented  (Jig.  18l).  On  folding  plates  at 
the  end  of  the  book  is  a  series  of  head  and  tail-pieces  made 
up  of  vignettes  most  skilfully  contrasted  in  light  and  shade 
(Jig.  182)  —  nothing  more  ingenious  and  charming  of  this 
sort  has  ever  been  produced !  A  feature  of  this  book  is  the 
display  of  large,  plain  letters  for  initials,  which  printers  of  his 
day,  he  says,  almost  entirely  lacked — "with  the  exception 
of  the  Imprimerie  Royale,  which  is  furnished  abundantly 
with  everything  which  produces  perfect  printing,  and  the 
types  belonging  to  which  contribute  so  much  to  the  glory 
of  printing  and  the  honour  of  those  who  made  them." 

In  addition  to  the  well-knoun  Alanuel  Tijpographique 

'  Foumier  also  issued,  with  the  same  date  and  imprint,  a  16mo  specimen: 
Caracth-ea  de  V Imfirimerie  nouvellement  graves  fiar  Simon  Pierre  [sic] 
Fournier  le  jeune,  Graveur  isf  Fondeur  de  Caracttres.  Otlier  specimens  were : 
JVouveau  Caracth'e  de  Finance  (probably  by  Foumier  le  jeune,  1757?); 
and  F.fireuveH  de  deux  fietits  Caracteres  nouvellement  graves  fiar  Fournier 
le  jeune,  et  executes  dans  toutes  les  parties  tyfiogra}ihi(/ues.  Paris,  1757  or 
1758.  Also  Tableau  des  Vingt  Cor/is  du  Caracteres,  d'usage  ordinaire  duns 
rim/irimerie  .  .  .  fournis  fiar  M.  Fournier  le  jeune  in  Bihliotheque  des 
Artistes,  etc.,  by  De  Petity,  Tome  II,  Part  II,  Paris,  1766  (4to). 


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182.  Use  of  Typographical  Ornaments  in  Fournier  lejeune's  ModHes  dcs  Caracttrrt,  Pant,  1742 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  253 

of  1764,  described  on  a  later  page,  Fournier  lejeunewdiS  the 
author  of  a  series  of  papers,  written  between  1 758  and  1 763, 
and  collected  in  his  Traites  Histonqiies  et  Critiques  mr  P  Oli- 
vine et  les  Prog?-es  de  P Imprimerie^  a  16mo  volume  charm- 
ingly printed  by  Barbou.  Fournier  issued  in  1756  a  speci- 
men entitled  Essai  d''un  nouveau  Caractere  de  fonte  pour 
V Impression  de  la  Musique^  invente  par  Fournier  le  Jeune. 
His  part  in  the  improvement  of  music  types  (which  I  do 
not  touch  upon),  in  which  composers  like  Rameau  sup- 
ported him,  was  very  considerable,  and  in  spite  of  bitter 
opposition  by  the  Ballard  family,  who  held  a  sort  of  mo- 
nopoly as  music-printers,  the  King  named  him,  in  1762,  his 
supernumerary  printer  for  music.  His  Traite  Historique  et 
Critique  sur  POrigine  et  les  Progres  des  Caracteres  de  la  fonte 
pour  V Impression  de  la  Musique^  avec  des  epreuves  de  nou- 
veaux  caracteres  de  Musique^  appeared  about  1763. 

Fournier  le  jeune  married,  in  1747,^  Marie  Madeleine 
Couret  de  Villeneuve,  daughter  of  Louis  FranQois  Couret 
de  Villeneuve  and  Marie  Madeleine  Borde,  and  sister  to 
a  certain  Martin  Couret  de  Villeneuve,  a  printer  of  reputa- 
tion at  Orleans — as  was  his  son.  The  Fourniers  lived  on 
the  rive  gauche^  in  that  old-world  quarter  of  Paris  near  the 
Lycee  Henri  IV  and  the  picturesque  old  church  of  St, 
Etienne  du  Mont  —  to  which  parish  Fournier  belonged.  In 
the  year  of  his  marriage  he  dwelt  in  the  Rue  des  Sept  Voies, 
where  his  house  stood  opposite  the  College  de  Reims — in 
the  quartier  de  P  Universite,  within  the  bounds  of  which 
printers  were  then  obliged  to  live.^ 

*  About  this  time  Fournier  was  painted  by  Bichu — a  picture  delightfully  re- 
produced by  Gaucher,  one  of  the  best  eighteenth  centuiy  engravers. 
^  For  a  practical  reason,  i.e.,  to  facilitate  inspection  of  their  output  by  the 
authorities  or  censors  of  the  University,  to  which  they  were  attached.  This 
would  have  been  inconvenient  if  they  had  been  allowed  to  live  in  remote  parts 
of  Paris. 


254  .      PRINTING  TYPES 

We  think  of  the  Paris  of  those  days  as  a  mass  of  old 
houses,  deprived  of  light,  air,  and  verdure.  But  the  houses 
of  that  time  were  only  a  border  to  the  streets.  Behind  them, 
between  one  street  and  the  next,  \\ere  great  open  spaces 
which  afforded  the  sunlight,  silence,  and  greenery  which 
their  fronts  were  denied;  and  in  Fournier's  day,  one-third 
of  the  city  \\as  open  land.  Indeed,  until  Louis  Philippe's 
reign,  the  jive  gauche  was  full  of  trees  and  gardens ;  and  the 
dramatist  Sardou,  who  in  his  early  years  lived  near  the 
Place  de  I'Estrapade,  speaks  of  the  view  lost  in  greenery 
that  his  windows  commanded.  It  was  amid  "these  gardens, 
these  silent  streets  so  propitious  to  labour,  perfumed  by 
lilacs,  and  flowering  \\\\h  pink  and  ^^■hite  chestnuts,"  that 
Fournier  had  his  latest  habitation.  His  dwelling  stood  at 
that  part  of  the  Rue  des  Postes  which  formed  a  side  of  the 
Place  de  I'Estrapade,  in  a  house  said  to  have  been  formerly 
occupied  by  Philippe  Grandjean,  type-cutter  for  the  Im- 
primerie  Royale,  who  kept  there  the  matrices  of  the  royal 
fonts,  and  cast  type  from  them  —  and  who  died  there  in 
1714.  Fournier's  specimen,  issued  in  1764,  bears  die  imprint 
"Place  de  I'Estrapade,  Rue  des  Postes,"  and  his  Manuel, 
"Rue  des  Postes."  The  Place  and  Rue  de  I'Estrapade  exist 
to-day,  though  what  was  the  Rue  des  Postes  is  now  the 
Rue  I'Homond.^ 

There  Fournier  died  on  October  8, 1768.  He  was  survived 
by  his  wife  and  two  sons,  Simon  Pierre  and  Antoine.  An 

'  The  Fournier  family  seem  to  Imve  retained  a  house  or  houses  there  for  many 
years.  In  1804,  Rue  des  Postes  No.  908,  in  1806,  No.  45,  were  occupied 
by  Fournier's  grandson,  the  founder  Beaulieu-Founiier;  and  his  nieces,  tlie 
Demoiselles  Founiier,  also  lived  in  tlie  Place  de  I'F^sti-apade  in  1811.  Tlie 
locality  seems  to  have  lieen  long  conseci-ated  to  type-founders  and  tlieir  in- 
dustry. Besides  Grandjean,  Hemery,  who  was  for  thirty  years  manager  of 
the  found r)'  of  Fournier  r aine  and  le  jeune,  lived  in  tlie  Place  de  rEstni])adc, 
as  did  Joseph  Gill6,  another  important  Parisian  founder,  and  tlie  type-founder 
L.  Leger,  nephew  and  successor  to  Pierre  Fran(jois  Didot. 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  255 

eloge  by  a  certain  Frangois  that  appeared  in  1775  (from 
material  furnished,  apparently,  by  one  of  the  family  and 
Fournier's  friend  Bejot,  of  the  Bibliotheque  Royale),  says: 
"Fournier's  private  life  Mas  happy,  proving  that  routine 
is  not  always  the  mother  of  eimui.  His  calm  spirit  diftlised 
about  him  unruffled  and  gentle  contentment.  He  fled  the 
noise  of  society,  to  enjoy  retirement  and  friendship,  per- 
haps giving  himself  up  to  this  too  much  during  his  last 
years.  Refusing  suggested  amusements,  he  devoted  himself 
wholly  to  work  and  research.  Such  obstinate  application 
was  really  the  source  of  his  illness,  and  finally  rendered  the 
advice  or  help  of  physicians  useless."^  And  other  authorities 
imply  that  he  ruined  his  health  by  overwork.  Two  years 
before  his  death  he  wrote  of  his  own  foundry:  "I  began  it 
in  1736,  and  it  is  scarcely  finished  in  the  present  year, 
1766;  which  is  to  say  that  by  assiduous  and  almost  con- 
tinuous work,  it  has  taken  me  twenty-nine  years  to  bring 
it  to  its  present  condition.  I  may  state  that  it  is  entirely  the 
work  of  my  own  hands,  I  myself  having  cut  the  punches, 
struck  and  justified  the  matrices,  and  manufactured  a  num- 
ber of  moulds — among  others  all  those  which  are  of  my 
own  invention ;  there  being  no  other  instance  since  the  in- 
vention of  printing,  of  a  complete  foundry  which  has  been 
the  work  of  a  single  artist."  It  was  Fournier's  lifework,  and 
it  cost  him  his  life ! 

'  Seeie  Necrologe  des  Hommes  Celebres  de  France,  Tome  Troiswrne,  1770, 
p.  231.  Also  VAnnee  Litteraire,  \7&S,  Tome  VII.  Eloge  de  M.  Fournier 
fi'^re,  etc.,  p.  265,  which  was  used  for  the  text  of  a  specimen  of  a  JVotiveau 
caractere  d"  Ecriture  dans  le  gout  Anglais .  Grave  a  Paris  en  1781  fiar  S. 
P.  Fournier  le  jeune,  and  printed  by  Pierres.  See  also  Lottin's  Catalogue 
Chronologique  des  Libraires,  etc.,  Paris,  1789  (pp.  233-244,  devoted  to 
type-founders) .  There  is  also  a  notice  of  Fournier  in  De  Fontenai's  Dic- 
tionnaire  des  Artistes,  Paris,  1776.  The  accounts  of  printers  in  it  were  pre- 
pared with  the  help  of  les  fiersonnes  les  plus  consommees  dans  I'art  de  rim- 
/irimerie—M.  Ph.  D.  Pierres  having  been  specially  interested  in  this  part  of 
the  work. 


256  PRINTING  TYPES 

After  Fournier's  death  his  widow  carried  on  his  foundry 
with  the  help  of  the  older  son,  Simon  Pierre  Fournier, — 
then  about  eighteen,  —  and  the  following  letter  was  sent  by 
her  to  persons  with  whom  her  husband  had  held  business 
relations : 

"I  have  the  honour  to  inform  you,"  she  writes,  "that  after 
a  long  and  most  cruel  malady,  God  has  taken  from  me  my 
Husband :  my  only  consolation  is  to  have  left  to  me  a  son, 
who  for  several  years  past  has  worked  under  the  eye  of  his 
father,  who  spared  no  pains  to  instruct  him  in  his  calling : 
on  my  part  I  shall  make  every  effort  to  continue  to  give  sat- 
isfaction and  to  merit  the  confidence  with  which  you  honour 
your  very  humble  servant." 

Madame  Fournier  survived  her  husband  some  seven 
years,  dying  in  the  Rue  des  Postes,  April  3,  1775.  A  year 
later,  Simon  Pierre  Fournier  married  Marguerite  Anne, 
daughter  of  a  certain  M.  De  Beaulieu  of  Chartres,  by 
whom  he  had  a  son  and  a  daughter.  His  only  brother,  An- 
toine,  was  nine  years  younger  than  he.  This  disparity  of 
age,  and  no  training  or  liking  for  his  father's  trade, — but, 
we  are  told,  a  taste  for  ime  education  recherchee,  —  led,  in 
1778,  to  litigation  between  S.  P.  Fournier  and  a  certain 
Barbou  de  Champourt,  who  acted  in  Antoine  Fournier's 
behalf — he  being  still  a  minor.^  What  the  outcome  was  of 
their  dispute  as  to  the  disposition  of  the  property,  I  do  not 
know. 

The  ultimate  fate  of  Fournier  lejeune^s  collection  of  types 
was  like  that  of  his  brother's  foundry :  for  the  son  is  said 
to  ha\  e  added  litde  to  its  reputation,  and  by  the  beginning 

?>ee  Memrjire  fiour  le  Sieur  Simon-Pierre  Fournier,  Graueur  isf  Fondeur 
de  Caracterea  d""  Imfirimerie,  Majeur.  Contre  le  sieur  Antoine  Fournier, 
Mineur  emancifie  d^Qge,  firocedant  sous  Pautorite  ksf  assistance  du  sieur 
Barbrju  de  Chamfiourt,8on  Thteurad  hoc,  is"  contre  ledit  sieur  Barbou  audit 
nom.  Paris,  1778. 


J 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  257 

of  the  last  century  the  collection  appears  to  have  been  broken 
up/ 

Franklin  had  dealings  with  various  Fourniers  during 
his  life  at  Passy,  and  alludes,  among  others,  to  Fournier 
Paine  and  Fournier  le  jeune^  who  were  respectively  uncle 
and  nephew  ;  the  latter  being  the  Simon  Pierre  (son  of  Four- 
nier le  jeune)\w^\.  spoken  of  ^  and  who  also  styled  himself /e 
jeune.  The  genealogical  table  of  the  Fournier  family  will 
aid  in  disentangling  their  puzzling  relationships. 

I  have  devoted  several  pages  to  the  Fourniers,  and  in 
particular  to  the  career  of  Fournier  le  jeune ^  because  they 
were  of  such  great  importance  in  the  history  of  type-found- 
ing in  France  in  the  mid-century.  The  elder  may  be  de- 
scribed as  a  man  of  integrity  who  was  the  owner,  and  very 
intelligent  owner,  of  a  wonderful  collection  of  ancient  types, 
and  as  one  who  walked  worthy  the  vocation  wherewith  he 
was  called.  The  younger  brother  was  much  more  in  the 
public  eye,  and  he  was  so  because,  having  had  some  artistic 
education,  possessing  the  enthusiasm  of  youth,  and  being 
unhampered  by  convention,  he  saw  possibilities  unsuspected 
by  others ;  and  thus  he  made  a  concrete  contribution  to 
French  type-founding  by  his  type,  his  ornaments,  and  the 
books  he  wrote  to  describe  and  popularize  his  methods. 

(l)  The  types  designed  by  Fournier  le  jeune  do  not  now 
seem  to  us  very  novel.  His  roman  w  as  an  old  style  character 
sharper  in  cut  than  that  commonly  in  use  at  his  period,  and 

*  Capelle,  who  wrote  in  1826,  is  my  authority  for  this  statement. 
'  It  was  he  who,  in  1 780,  wrote  to  Franklin  asking  him  to  allow  an  artist  of  his 
acquaintance  to  paint  Franklin's  portrait.  Franklin  replied  that  he  would  do  so, 
though  much  against  his  custom;  but  added,  characteristically,  that  he  was 
neither  rich  enough  nor  vain  enough  to  be  at  any  expense  in  the  matter.  Four- 
nier answered  that  he  would  feel  honoured  by  being  at  all  charges,  and  would 
send  to  Franklin  the  painter  whom  he  had  selected.  We  are  not  told  whetlier 
the  picture  was  painted  or  not. 


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FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  259 

of  variations  in  its  design  which  made  fonts  th*en  known  as 
ord7?2ai?'e,  approche  or  seire^  gout  HoUando\s^pot't\qut\  etc.  The 
ordinaire  is  that  which  most  clearly  shows  the  changes  he 
made  from  the  "old  style"  of  other  foundries.  Personally,  I 
do  not  care  much  for  it.  The  public  of  that  day  were  not  of 
my  way  of  thinking,  for  it  had  about  it  a  slightly  accentu- 
ated sharpness  which  was  welcomed.  It  resembled  the  types 
of  Garamond  more  than  those  of  Grandjean.  In  his  italic 
Fournier  abandoned  the  whimsicalities  so  agreeable  in  old 
style  fonts,  and  made  practically  a  sloping  roman  with  a 
trimmed,  mechanical  line.  In  his  Hollandois  types  he  short- 
ened the  descenders,  and  thus  these  types  had  the  "rotund" 
and  over-fed  appearance  that  such  deformation  always 
gives.  His  poetiques,  Luce  thought,  it  appears,  were  adapted 
from  his  —  for  persons  of  reputation  adopt,  adapt,  appro- 
priate, and  annex,  but  never !  And  to  all  these  fonts  he 

added  series  of  varied  ornamental  letters  and  shaded  letters 
{lettres  grises),  and  very  delightful  they  were.  Even  the  rules 
or  Jilets  used  to  separate  sections,  under  Fournier's  hand 
blossomed  into  something  new.  Of  his  ornaments  and  or- 
namented initials  one  may  say  that  he  touched  nothing  that 
he  did  not  adorn.  But  these  belong  to  our  review  of  the 
vignettes  or  omements  dejonte^  for  they  were  derived  from 
the  same  sources. 

(2)  The  emblems,  ornamental  letters,  and  be-garlanded 
borders  which  Fournier  made  popular  in  printing  were  in- 
spired chiefly  by  the  work  of  men  like  Cochin,  Eisen,  St.  Au- 
bin,  and  other  French  vignettists  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Seeing  what  had  been  done  for  the  book  by  the  engraver 
and  etcher,  he  attempted  to  transmute  their  designs  into 
material  for  printers.  Such  typographic  ornaments  were 
not  new  —  an  immense  repertoire  of  them  already  existed. 


260  PRINTING  TYPES 

Fournier  merely  adapted  them  to  the  fashion  of  his  day, 
but  he  did  so  with  great  taste  and  unity  of  effect.  Thus,  to 
quote  Thibaudeau,  we  have  in  his  vigiwttes  "pieces  sus- 
ceptible of  forming  varied  decorative  arrangements,  of  a 
definite  note  and  style,  conceived  with  such  foresight  as  to 
their  use,  that  they  lent  themselves  as  well  to  the  irregular 
curves  of  escutcheons,  rosettes,  and  cids-de-lampe^  as  to  form 
and  decorate  initials  and  framework:  capable,  in  a  word, 
of  being  substituted  for  the  corresponding  employments  of 
copper-plate  engraving,  while  presenting  the  very  appre- 
ciable advantage,  for  semi-luxurious  editions,  of  economy 
of  impression."^ 

(3)  The  remaining  work  that  Fournier  did  was  to  pop- 
ularize the  knowledge  of  his  art  in  a  delightful  way  by  his 
writings — chiefly  through  the  publication  of  his  Manuel 
Typographique' — "useful  to  men  of  letters  and  to  those 
who  are  practitioners  in  the  different  branches  of  the  Art 
of  Printing."  It  contains  the  most  useful  information  about 
type^  and  type-founding  which  could  be  got  together  when 
he  wrote.  It  appeared  at  Paris  in  tMO  16mo  volumes,  printed 
by  the  author  in  very  tasteful  fashion  and  sold  by  Barbou 

'  La  Lettre  cP Imfirimerie,  Vol.  I,  p.  294. 

Manuel  Tyfiografihique  utile  aux  gens  de  lettres  is"  a  ceux  cjui  exercent 
lefi  differentes  fiarties  de  V Art  de  V Imfirimerie .  Par  Fournier,  le  jeune. 
A Paria,  Imfirime  fiar  PAuteur,  rue  des  Pastes  Iff  se  vend  c/iez  Barbou,  rue 
S.  Jacques,  1764-66  (2  vols.).  The  work  was  to  have  comprised  two  more 
volumes  devoted  to  the  mechanics  of  printing  and  biographies  of  printers, 
but  the  author  did  not  live  to  finish  it. 

^I  say  "about  type"  rather  than  "about  printing"  advisedly.  For  Martin 
Dominique  Fertel's  Science  Pratique  de  r Imjirimerie  (St.  Omer,  1723)  is  in 
some  ways  a  more  useful  book  for  a  jjrinter  who  wants  to  know  how  to  use 
type.  It  is  die  first  treatise  written  in  French,  the  aim  of  which  was  to  show 
how  to  arrange  a  book  clearly  and  attractively.  It  is  admirably  done, and 
should  be  consulted  by  any  one  wishing  to  reconstitute  French  typography  of 
the  early  eighteenth  century.  Fournier  rated  Fertel's  work  very  high. 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  261 

—  the  first  part  in  1764,  the  second  in  1768,  though  dated 
1766/ 

In  the  Avertisseineiit  Preliminaire  to  Vokime  I,  Fournier 
records  in  brief  what  had  already  been  written  in  France 
about  the  history  of  printing  and  types,  oudines  the  scheme 
of  his  book,  and  devotes  some  pages  to  his  new  music  fonts. 
"The  art  of  engraving  types,"  he  says  (forgetful  or  igno- 
rant of  Moxon),  "has  never  been  described.  Masters  of  the 
art  have  been  so  rare,  that  a  considerable  time  has  often 
elapsed  without  a  single  one  in  France,  and  not  one  of  them 
has  described  in  w  riting  the  processes  of  his  art.  It  is  that 
fact  which  obliged  me,  when  I  desired  to  exercise  my  call- 
ing, to  define  for  myself  those  principles,  and  to  establish 
those  rules,  of  which  I  have  given  an  account  in  the  rest 
of  this  work."  In  the  text  he  considers,  from  a  technical 
point  of  view,  punch-cutting,  matrix-making,  and  type- 
founding,  including  under  this  last  head  the  treatise  on  his 
point  system  quoted  in  a  previous  chapter.  Then  follow 
polices  —  a  series  of  tables  indicating  the  respective  num- 
ber of  each  character  to  be  supplied  in  making  up  fonts  of 
roman,  Hebrew,  Greek,  music  types,  etc.  A  group  of  plates 
(preceded  by  explanatory  notes),  w  hich  show  the  tools,  etc., 
employed  in  the  various  processes  described  in  the  text, 
closes  the  volume. 

In  Volume  II,  in  the  Avertissement  Prelimmaire^  Fournier 
points  out  the  importance  of  a  more  exact  knowledge  of  the 
kinds  and  sizes  of  type  in  various  weights  of  line,  if  an  in- 
telligent choice  is  to  be  made  for  a  given  purpose.  This  is 
followed  by  a  summary  of  the  books  he  has  consulted  and 

'  Foumierwas  by  special  decree  printer  supernumerary  to  the  thirtj-six  Paris- 
ian printers  established  by  law,  and  this  allowed  him  to  print  tlie  Manuel 
in  a  little  office  set  up  for  the  purpose  in  his  house  in  the  Rue  des  Postes.  On 
his  death  the  press  was  immediately  dismantled  by  the  authorities  of  tlie 
printing-trade. 


262  PRINTING  TYPES 

an  account  of  the  principal  type-foundries  of  Europe,  most 
of  which  I  have  quoted. 

The  specimens  of  types  are  the  most  important  part  of 
the  book.  Some  of  them  were  lent  him  by  Fournier  l\iint\ 
by  the  Paris  founders  Cappon  and  Herissant,  and  by  Breit- 
kopf  of  Leipsic.Theyare  grouped  under  six  heads:  I.  Types 
in  ordinary  use.  II.  Ornaments,  lettres  de  deux  points  (simple 
and  ornamented),  rules,  etc.  III.  Types  peculiar  to  particular 
countries  or  of  special  forms.  IV.  Oriental  types.  V.  Music 
and  plain-song.  VI.  Types  of  ancient  and  modern  languages, 
with  explanatory  notes.^ 

Fournier's  types,  in  common  with  those  shown  in  most 
contemporary  French  specimens,display  varying  nuances  in 
type-faces  of  the  same  body,  usually  described — to  adopt 
Fournier's  enumeration — SiS petit  oeil^oeil  ordinaire^oeilmoijen^ 
gros  oeil^  ceil  Hollandois^  ml  sen'e^  and  ceil  poetique.  "  The  petit 
oeil^''  says  Fournier,  "leaves  more  space  between  lines  of 
type,  which  gives  a  lighter  and  more  graceful  air;  but  it 
is  more  fatiguing  to  persons  of  delicate  eyesight;  oeil  ordi- 
naire holds  the  middle  course  between  charm  and  utility; 
oiil  moyen  is  a  shade  stronger  in  character,  which  makes 
it  more  legible,  an  advantage  still  more  marked  in  the  gros 
oeil;  but  the  lines  of  this  being  closer  to  each  other,  the  pages 
take  on  ''un  air  trop  mateiieU  To  diminish  this  weight,  the 
Dutch  have  thought  of  making  these  kinds  of  ^mjc^/7  types 
of  a  thinner  face  and  more  elongated  shape."  Fournier  him- 
self added  to  the  variety  of  faces  the  ozil  serre^  a  slightly 
condensed  type  that  allowed  more  letters  to  a  line;  and  his 
version  o^  poetique — smaller  and  less  colourful  —  has  tall 

'  Under  the  title  l.es  Caract^res  de  V I mfirimerit'  jiar  Fournier  le  jeune.  A 
Paris,  Place  de  C Eatrajiade,  Rue  des  Pastes,  1764,  a  specimen  similar  to  that 
which  forms  jjart  of  the  Manuel  was  published  separately ,  but  did  not  con- 
tain all  the  types  shown  in  that  work. 


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FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  263 

capitals,  ascenders,  etc.,  that  "let  in  the  light"  between  lines 
of  poetry;  and  its  condensation  permitted  a  long  line  of 
poetry  to  be  printed  on  a  comparatively  small  page,  with- 
out what  is  called  a  "turn-over." 

All  these  variants  are  shown  by  Fournier.  As  I  have 
said,  the  roman  types  of  the  ordinaire  class  became,  under 
Fournier's  graver,  a  trifle  sharper  and  more  open  in  cut  than 
the  current  old  style.  In  these  faces,  particularly  in  italic, 
one  sees  the  sure  advance  of  a  lighter  fashion  in  printing 
types.  The  condensed  poetique  types  are  of  the  same  general 
character  as  those  of  Luce  {Jig.  183),  and  the  series  of  fonts 
in  gout  Hollandois  {Jig.  184),  a  condensed  type  of  large  face 
with  short  ascenders  and  descenders,  is  perhaps  modelled 
on  the  plan  of  the  serviceable  Elzevir  types.  As  the  letters 
grow  larger,  however,  they  seem  to  become  disproportion- 
ately heavy.  Both  poetigue  and  Hollandois  types  had  consid- 
erable vogue  for  books  where  the  printer  wished  to  get  as 
much  matter  on  a  page  as  possible.  Of  the  two,  \he  poetique 
is  much  more  attractive ;  but  the  gout  Hollandois  was  more 
used.  Its  monotonous  evenness  of  line  introduced  a  bad  fash- 
ion in  roman  fonts,  and  its  italic  ^  was  a  slanting  version  of 
roman  rather  than  a  true  italic.  Fournier  had  begun  to  pol- 
ish the  life  out  of  italic  letters  twenty  years  earlier,  and  in 
his  Modeles  des  Caracteres  of  1742  speaks  of  a  certain  air 
of  antiquity  in  older  (or,  as  he  called  them,  "superannu- 
ated") styles  of  italic  that  unfortunately  he  thought  it  de- 
sirable to  reform ;  all  the  more  so,  perhaps,  because  his  elder 
brother  had  such  a  wonderful  stock  of  them !  In  italic  char- 
acters, he  tells  us,  his  improvement  was  to  make  type  more 
closely  resembling  the  writing  of  his  day,  and  to  show 
greater  contrast  between  the  thick  and  thin  lines  of  the  let- 

*  This  italic  was  used  interchangeably  with  "old  style"  and  "Hollandois'^ 
roman. 


264  PRINTING  TYPES 

ters ;  but  to  my  eye  his  italic  has  a  rigid  and  monotonous 
air  that  is  extremely  disagreeable  {Jig.  185a).  It  was  to  be 
finallv  superseded  by  the  much  worse  italic  fonts  of  Didot. 
But  the  mischievous  influence  began,  I  fear,  with  Grand- 
jean's  types,  which,  marvellous  as  they  were,  had  in  them 
elements  that  later  played  havoc  with  roman  as  well  as  with 
italic  characters. 

The  agreeable  shaded  letters^  produced  by  Fournier  may 
be  looked  at  for  the  amusing  and  ingenious  manner  in  which 
serifs  on  the  shaded  italic  and  roman  capitals  in  large  sizes 
have,  by  a  few  strokes  of  the  graver,  been  made  to  end  in 
a  kind  of  "spray."  This  is  an  example  of  a  delightful  effect 
achieved  by  the  simplest  means  {Jig.  185b).  They  are  not 
to  be  confounded  with  his  decorated  capital  letters,^  which 
are,  as  ornamental  type-letters  go,  simple,  and,  if  sparingly 
used,  most  attractive  {Jig.  186).  Both  had  considerable 
vogue  at  that  day  and  haAC  been  revived  in  ours.  They 
were  inspired  by  the  lettering  of  engraved  title-pages. 

Fournier's  typograpical  ornaments  are  charming  little 
designs  {Jig.  187)  rendered  for  typographic  use  just  as 
such  things  should  be.  Only  close  examination  reveals  their 
variety  and  cleverness.  At  first  glance,  the  larger,  more  ob- 
vious decorations,  such  as  those  of  gros-romain  size,^  are  the 
ones  that  strike  us — frameworks  with  festoons,  broken  by 
bunches  of  flowers  or  knots.  These  are  not  more  remark- 
able than  the  smallest  ornaments — numbers  1  to  93  —  from 
which  most  charming  effects  were  derived.  Numbers  4,  5, 
6,  7,  and  23,  24,  when  used  in  mass,  gave  a  field  upon 
^^  hich  blacker,  bolder  figures  could  be  built  up,  with  won- 
derful richness  of  contrast.  Then,  again,  the  bracketed  num- 
bers 138-147,  188-190,  and  191-201  show  the  varieties  of 

^Manuel  Tyfxografihique ,  Vol.  II,  pp.  88-93. 
■  Ibid.,  pp.  88,  89.  'ibid.,  p.  113. 


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HISTOIRE 

D  E 

LOUIS  BE  BOURBON, 
Second  du  Nom, 

JFJEIJCWCjE 

DE  CONDI, 

PREMIER    PRINCE   DU  SANG, 
Surnomme  le   Grand, 

LIFRE     PREMIER, 


i6ii- 1643. 


T 

A-4  o  u  1  s    DE     Bourbon,. 

fecond  du  nom  ,    naquit   a   Paris    1621. 
le  7  Septembre  1621  ;  il  fut  titre 
Due  d'Enguhn  _,  nom  heureux  qui 
rappelioit    la    memoire   du    vain- 


186.  Fow-nier  lejeune's  Ornamental  Capitals 
Lottin^  Paris ^  1768 


c: 


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to 

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u 

o 


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'^rr^^i^^'VT*- 


^ 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  265 

breaks  and  endings  to  rules  that  could  be  had/  Some  char- 
acteristic designs  are  the  sunbursts  in  honour  of  le  roi  Soleil 
(339),  the  medallions  (359,  360),  the  hanging  garlands 
(365),  the  escutcheons  (375),  and  seven  varieties  of  black 
butterflies.  Even  the  braces  ^  {crotchets)  are  decorated,  and 
the  double  and  triple  rules  are  made  interesting.  These  or- 
naments became  in  Fournier's  hands  something  almost  as 
delightful  as  engraving,  and  yet  wholly  new. 

The  division  of  the  Manuel  devoted  to  special  charac- 
ters contains  much  interesting  material^ — for  instance,  the 
batarde  types  {Jig'  188),  the  cursive  frariQoise  or  civilite^  the 
ancienne  batarde^  and  some  fine  lettre  de  forme  and  lettre  de 
^o;?2;w^  which  follow.^  The  Flemish  and  German  types  are  also 
interesting;  and  Fournier's  much  discussed  music  types^ 
should  be  examined.  A  final  section  of  the  book  is  given 
up  to  alphabets  of  ancient  and  modern  languages — some 
of  them  appear  rather  apocryphal — gathered  from  various 
sources,  and  to  these  Fournier  has  appended  little  notes  full 
of  information.  Of  these  the  first  sixteen  only  are  of  much 
practical  value  to  the  reader  of  this  book. 

The  Manuel  Typographique  is  a  work  which  no  student 
of  French  typography  can  afford  to  be  without.  The  sim- 
plicity of  the  author's  style,  his  na'ive  pride  in  his  own  per- 
formances, and  its  mass  of  information  make  a  book  which 
will  become  a  favourite  with  any  one  who  reads  it.  It  is  not 
the  work  of  a  scholar,  but  of  an  observing,  experienced, 
quick-witted  master  of  his  art,  who  in  cultivating  that  art 
had  cultivated  himself.  And  when  we  think  about  the  other 

*  All  the  bracketed  numbers  arc  full  of  interesting  suggestions.  Notice 
the  combination  of  203  and  205  with  20r,  and  also  the  "possibilities"  in 
vignettes  210-215,  234-236,  2  53-268,  283-288,  296-306,  331-338,  349- 
355. 

'  Manuel  Tyfiografihique,  Vol.  II,  p.  127.  '  Ibid.,  pp.  135-150 . 

*  Ibid.,]i.  142.  '  Ibid.,  pp.  143,  144.  '  Ibid.,  pp.  172-179. 


266  PRINTING  TYPES 

work  that  Fournier  did — of  the  types  he  cut,  of  the  orna- 
ments he  designed,  of  the  point  system  he  invented,  of  the 
music  he  improved — we  begin  to  reaHze  the  part  he  played 
in  what  has  been  happily  called  "the  renovation  of  French 
typographic  material  in  the  eighteenth  century."  Fournier 
was  a  man  typical  of  a  certain  class  in  France,  who  treat 
their  work  with  a  respect  which  dignifies  both  it  and  them. 
For  he  was  neither  a  bad  workman,  a  bad  pastry-cook,  nor 
a  bad  Frenchman,  who,  being  taxed  with  thinking  that  or- 
namental pastry  was  the  one  Fine  Art  in  the  world,  mod- 
estly replied,  "No:  there  are  three  Fine  Arts  —  Sculpture, 
Painting,  and  Ornamental  Pastry-Making — of  which  Ar- 
chitecture is  a  Branch ! " 

IV 

IN  the  examination  of  French  specimen-books,  which  con- 
cludes this  chapter,  I  shall  take  Fournier,  supplemented 
bv  Lottin,^  as  a  guide,  and  describe  when  possible  the  speci- 
mens of  the  founders  they  name. 

The  oldest  establishment  was  the  Le  Be  foundry,  which 
remained  in  that  family  until  1730,  and  was  then  purchased 
by  Jean  Pierre  Fournier  Vaine.  It  has  already  been  suffi- 
ciendy  treated  under  the  work  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
in  the  notice  of  the  Fourniers. 

The  second  great  French  foundry  was  that  of  Sanlecque. 
A  specimen  of  its  types  was  issued  in  1757,  but  so  wholly 
de\oted  to  seventeenth  century  fonts,  that  it  appears  under 
the  account  of  that  period.  In  a  letter  written  to  Franklin 

'  See  N'otice  Chronologique  des  iJbraires,  Imfirimeurs  Isf  Artistes  qui  se  sont 
occufies  dp  la  Gravure  l^  de  la  Fonte  des  Caract^res  Tyfiografihiques,  con- 
tained in  Auguste  Martin  Lottin's  Catalogue  Chronologique  des  IJbraires 
ct  des  IJbraires- Imfirimeurs  de  Paris.  Paris,  1789.  It  rej)resents  tlie  laljour 
of  forty-two  years  —  tliirty-six  years  of  preparation  and  six  of  revision  and 
printing. 


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FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  267 

by  Marie,  widow  of  Jean  Eustache  Louis  Sanlecque,  in 
1779,  she  says,  "I  am  proprietress  of  a  foundry  which  I 
dare  assure  you  is  the  finest  in  Europe;"  and  she  contin- 
ues, "I  add,  herewith,  a  little  book  which  contains  differ- 
ent impressions  of  type  which  will  put  you  in  a  position  to 
judge  of  the  merit  of  my  foundry  by  seeing  the  beauty  of 
its  characters."^  Madame  Sanlecque  died  in  1785,  and  her 
daughters  sold  the  foundry  to  Maurice  Prosper  Joly,  who 
in  turn  sold  it  to  Henri  Haener  of  Nancy,  the  purchaser  of 
some  of  the  material  of  Fournier  Jils. 

The  Delacolonge  foundry  of  Lyons  is  mentioned  by 
Fournier  as  an  ancient  and  respectable  establishment,  and 
its  productions  up  to  the  year  1773  may  be  seen  in  a  rare 
little  specimen  entitled  Les  Caracteres  et  les  Vignettes  de 
la  Fonderie  du  Sieiir  Delacolonge.  A  Lyon^  Montee  ^  pres 
les  Carmelites^  1773.  The  types  in  this  collection  seem  to 
date  from  so  many  periods  that  I  hesitate  to  identify  them 
chronologically.  Many  in  the  large  sizes  are  extremely  dis- 
tinguished, especially  the  gros  canon  ozil  maigre  and  ceil  gras^ 
both  in  roman  and  italic,  which  appear  to  me  seventeenth 
century  types,  and  which  are  reproduced,  therefore,  on  an 
earlier  page  {Jigs.  152  and  153).  The  four  civilite  types^  are 
delightful,  and  the  Jinanciere  {Jig.  189)  is  a  common  type- 
form  in  French  eighteenth  century  printing.  The  Greek  and 
Hebrew  types  are  good.  A  point  to  be  noticed  in  this  book  is 
the  difference  between  the  old-fashioned  and  agreeable  italic, 
such  as  the  Saint-Aiigustin,^  and  the  wiry  italic  in  the  Dutch 
taste.*  The  head-pieces  are  ingenious  and  interesting  and 
are  made  up  of  vignettes  de  Jbnte.  The  collection  of  these 

'  Livingston's  Franklin  and  His  Press  at  Passy,  Grolier  Club,  New  York, 
1914,  pp. 118, 119. 

'  Delacolonge  Specimen,  pp.  94  and  98. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  32  and  37.  *  Ibid.,  pp.  33  and  38. 


268  PRINTING  TYPES 

vignettes  is  as  miscellaneous  as  the  types,  and  many  of  them 
are,  I  think,  very  old/ 

The  type-founder  Mozet  issued  a  specimen  in  1736,  but 
I  never  have  seen  it:  though  I  am  familiar  with  the  issue 
of  1 743,  entitled  Epreuves  des  Caracteres  de  la  Fondeiie  de 
Claude  Mozet^  Fondeur  et  Graveiir  de  Caracteres  d^Impii- 
merie.  A  Patis,  rue  de  la  Parchemmerie^  au  coin  de  la  me  des 
Pretres  Saint  Severin.  Mozet's  foundry  passed  to  J.  F.Hemery, 
who  for  thirty  years  had  been  director  of  the  Fournier  foun- 
dries, and  who  lived  in  the  Place  de  I'Estrapade. 

In  1720,  a  certain  Briquet  started  a  foundry,  which  on 
his  death  he  left  to  his  widow.  He  had  as  an  associate 
and  pupil  a  Monsieur  Loyson,  who  married  the  ^^  idow,  and 
in  1728  issued  a  specimen,  mentioned  by  Lottin.  Madame 
Loyson's  son  by  her  first  marriage  —  Briquet — associated 
himself  with  his  stepfather,  and  with  him  brought  out  in 
1751  Epreuve  des  Caracteres  de  la  Fonderie  de  Loyson  &f 
Briquet  (4to),  which  I  have  never  seen.  After  Loyson's  death. 
Briquet  continued  the  foundry  alone,  and  produced  in  1757 
a  specimen  called  Epreuve  des  Caracteres  de  la  Fondeiie  de 
Briquet.  A  Paris,  Clditre  Saint  Benoit.  This  may  be  properly 
considered  an  eighteenth  century  specimen-book,  though 
not  a  very  good  one.  The  names  of  the  type-cutters  who 
supplied  fonts  for  the  collection  are  given  in  the  preface, 
and  some  of  the  types  were  imported  from  Holland.  The 
fonts  —  except,  possibly,  those  attributed  to  Garamond  — 
are  uninteresting  variants  of  styles  found  in  other  speci- 
mens. The  ornaments  are  better,  and  some  combinations  of 
them  at  the  end  of  the  book  are  very  beautiful  indeed.  The 
way  in  which  they  are  shown  —  as  units  and  in  various 
combinations — is  useful  and  clever;  the  first  instance  that 

'  Delacolonge  Specimen,  pp.  66-70,  Nos.  210,  211,  223,  233,  236,  240,  and 
249. 


FINANCIERE 
de  deux  points  de  Philofophie. 

c/LoiointJ  oe  la  JLwzaizie^ 
^/^  Umpxtmexic  ^^*^  cettc^ 
"Viu^^.y  ceztiftoitj  aue  cAi. 
jU elacoionat^  op  oeciaze  mO 
tcj  ^\.eat^hex^  ^^*^  nohtJ> 
LynamvzcJ>  Q>vn&Lcal^^  ^ 
*Voulotr-'  expeatei'^  cu  G/ro 
Ouivripneuv-cLwzaize^  cu 
caid^t  conteuani—  cazaclezeiJL^ 
d  tmvzimezi^  y   cu  faaueuc^ 

? 


expeJitioru    uoucl^     apoui^^ 


189.  Financiere:  Delacolonge' s  Caracteres  et  Vig'tiettes 
Lijons^  177  S 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  269 

I  know  of  this  method  of  exposition  {Jig.  190).  The  Loyson- 
Briquet  foundry  was  sold  in  1758  to  Vincent  Denys  Cap- 
pon,  who  had  been  their  el^ve^  and  after  his  death  in  1783 
it  was  carried  on  by  his  widow.  It  ultimately  became  part 
of  the  stock  of  the  distinguished  Parisian  printer,  Pierres. 

The  ancient  foundry  of  Denis  Thierry  was  based  on 
Moreau's  collection  of  agreeable  and  clever  cursive  types. 
After  two  generations  it  was  acquired  by  the  Collombats, 
father,  son,  and  grandson,  and  finally  passed  by  sale  to 
Jean  Thomas  Herissant,  printer  and  founder,  in  1763.  A 
"specimen"  was  issued  by  his  widow  (born  Marie  Nicole 
Estienne),  dated  1772,  entitled  Epreuve  des  Car'act^res  de  la 
Fonderie  de  la  Veuve  Herissant^  Imprimeur  ordinaire  du  Roi, 
des  Cabinet^  Maison  ^  Bdtiments  de  Sa  Majeste,  Academies 
des  Arts  ^  Manufactures  Roy  ales.  A  Paris,  rue  Saint-Jacques^ 
an  coin  de  celle  de  la  Parcheminerie.  In  the  preface  to  it 
Madame  Herissant  states  that  part  of  these  types  came  to 
her  husband  by  his  purchase  of  the  Collombat  establish- 
ment— which  comprised  a  publishing  and  printing-house 
and  a  foundry.  An  Epreuve  des  Caracteres,  composant  Vlm- 
primerie  de  la  Veuve  Herissant,  rue  de  la  Parchemineiie,  No. 
184,  of  eighteen  quarto  pages,  was  issued  shortly  after  the 
Revolution,  but  this  was,  in  reality,  a  sale  catalogue.  The 
types  shown  in  it  are  not  noteworthy,  except  for  the  three 
Jinancieres, — not  Moreau's,  by  the  way, — the  Greek,  He- 
brew, Syriac  (very  fine),  and  some  moderately  good  fonts  of 
music. 

The  Thiboust  foundry,  begun  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
descended  from  father  to  son  in  the  Thiboust  family — a  race 
of  Parisian  printers,  booksellers,  and  type-founders — until 
1787.  I  do  not  know  of  any  specimen  issued  by  it. 

The  foundry  of  Jean  Cot  was  assembled  by  his  purchase 
of  a  number  of  small  foundries  in  1670,  and  its  material 


270  PRINTING  TYPES 

passed  to  a  son,  Pierre  Cot,  who,  under  the  title  of  Essais 
de  Caracieres  (P Imprimerie^  A  Paris^  1707,  issued  a  16 mo 
specimen  of  ornamental  characters  and  announced  one  to 
follow  Avith  exotic  alphabets,  ordinary  types,  music,  orna- 
ments, et  autres  enjoliveniaits.  He  appears  to  ha\'e  been  a 
scholarly  man,  and  was  the  author  of  a  history  of  letter- 
founding  and  printing,  which  remained  unpublished.  On  his 
death  the  establishment  reverted  to  his  mother,  and  finally, 
through  two  of  her  daughters,  it  came  to  Claude  Lamesle 
bv  purchase  in  1737.  Lamesle  issued  in  1742  an  extremely 
handsome  and  dignified  specimen  called  Epreiives  Generales 
des  Caracth'es  qui  se  trouvent  chez  Claude  Lamesle.  .  .  .  A 
Paris,  Rue  Galande  {au  ?uilieu)  pfvs  la  Place  Alaubert.  This 
book,  both  in  type  and  ornaments,  I  think,  presents  better 
than  any  other  the  output  of  French  foundries  during  the 
last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  and  the  first  half  of  the 
eighteenth  centur}-.  The  collection  of  types  is  remarkably 
fine.  They  are  purely  old  style,  and  after  each  size  the  ini- 
tials and  ornaments  belonging  to  that  size  are  introduced. 
Here  and  there  one  finds  characters  reminiscent  of  Dutch 
fonts  of  the  period,  and  old  style  fonts  which,  on  account  of 
their  leading  and  light  cut,  show  the  approach  of  a  more 
open  style  of  typography.  Titling-letters  (in  roman,  italic, 
and  Greek)  and  some  beautiful  civilite  are  worth  looking 
at.  The  ornaments  are,  many  of  them,  of  thoroughly  seven- 
teenth century  style.  The  plates  to  be  consulted  (toward 
the  end  of  the  book)  are  the  lettres  de  deux  points  de  petit 
canon,  allemande  de  deux  points  de  gros  wmain,  and  gros 
canon  maigre ordinai?'e  in  roman  and  italic^  —  both  of  them 
beautiful  letters.  For  the  student  of  French  type-forms  of 
the  earlier  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  is  scarcely 
a  better  book.  A  second  edition  with  some  variations  was 

*  lamesle  Specimen,  Nos.  lvhi  and  lix. 


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190.  Method  of  Displaying'  Ornaments:  Briquet's  Epreuve  des  Caractcres 
Paris,  1757  (reduced) 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  271 

brought  out  in  1 758,  on  the  occasion  of  the  sale  of  Lamesle's 
foundry  to  Nicohis  Gando  Paine,  wlio  in  1736  had  ex- 
changed his  foundry  at  Geneva  for  the  Parisian  foundry  of 
his  uncle,  Jean  Louis  Gando — a  native  of  Basle,  who  came 
to  Paris  on  the  invitation  of  Grandjean,  about  1705. 

Nicolas  Gando  issued  a  specimen  in  1745,  and  after  the 
purchase  of  the  Lamesle  establishment,  he  and  his  son, 
Pierre  Frangois,  published,  in  1 760,  Epwiives  des  Camcthrs 
de  la  Fondene  de  Gando  pere  etjils.  A  Paris,  Cloitre  Saint  Ju- 
lien  le  Pauvre,  pres  la  me  Galande,  printed  by  Guerin  and 
Delatour.  They  were  adroit  copyists,  and  very  unscrupulous 
rivals,  of  Fournier  lejeune^vjixh  whom  they  had  a  bitter  con- 
troversy on  the  subject  of  music  types.  And  another  Gando, 
Frangois  (a  brother  of  Nicolas),  first  of  Lille,  later  of  Paris, 
also  tormented  Fournier  le  jeunehyhis  imitations  and  trick- 
eries— though  after  Frangois  Gando's  death  his  daughter 
married  Fournier  lejeune's  nephew!  The  Gando  specimen 
of  1760  contains  most  of  the  material  which  appeared  in 
Lamesle's  book,  with  some  rearrangements  and  additions. 
The  order  of  the  type  is  reversed,  the  largest  sizes  being 
displayed  first.  The  second  type  shown  is  a  gros  canon  ital- 
ique  nouveau  gout.  What  this  gout  was,  one  begins  to  see  in 
the  gros  parangon  italique  numero  \\\,  petit  parangon  italique 
numero  xi,  or  the  cicero  italique  engraved  by  Gando  le  jeune 
in  1754  ^jig.  19l).  These  wiry,  vulgar  types  were  a  new 
and  bad  yet  popular  element  in  a  printer's  stock.  The  Re- 
cueil  d'Omemens  \mc\  is  dated  1745,  and  was  issued  by 
Nicolas  Gando — probably  a  reprint  of  part  of  the  Epreuves 
of  the  same  date.  This  Reciwil,  with  its  rather  overcharged 
head-bands,  etc.,  made  up  of  ornaments,  introduces  one  to 
a  surprising  and  terrible  portico  of  a  temple  some  ten  inches 
square,  constructed  entirely  of  typographical  ornaments — 
a  structure  which  it  is  hoped  will  remain  unique !  —  though 


272  PRINTING  TYPES 

it  is  run  close  by  some  Austrian  and  Spanish  type-edifices 
and  Italian  naval  constructions,  the  whereabouts  of  which 
will  ever  remain  (as  far  as  I  am  concerned)  a  profound  secret. 

In  all  these  later  eighteenth  century  French  specimen- 
books  three  styles  of  type  stand  out:  (l)  The  lively,  inter- 
esting old  style  roman  of  earlier  periods  with  its  irregular 
italic.  This  older  italic  was  less  and  less  shown  as  the  cen- 
tury advanced  and  the  new  italic  was  substituted  for  it,  while 
the  original  old  style  roman  was  ?'etained.  (2)  Poetigue,  con- 
densed fonts  with  tall  ascenders,  or  fonts  modelled  on  or 
suggested  by  poetique  type,  sometimes  called  approche  or 
serre.  (3)  Fonts  in  the  gout  Hollandois — a  letter  of  larger 
body  in  proportion  to  its  ascenders  and  descenders,  more 
uniform  in  colour  and  monotonous  in  design. 

The  "specimens"  named  hitherto  (with  the  exception 
perhaps  of  Fournier's  Manuel)  were  practically  all  put  out 
by  type-founders  for  the  use  of  printers.  We  now  come  to 
the  first  specimen-book  (that  I  have  seen)  which  appears 
to  be  intended  by  a  printer  for  the  use  of  his  customers — 
an  innovation  which  was  to  work  to  the  detriment  of  good 
typography.  The  volume  has  another  novel  feature,  i.e.^  that 
with  each  specimen  of  type  shown,  the  name  of  the  foun- 
dry from  which  it  comes  is  given.^  It  displays  the  stock  of 
tj'pes  that  a  Paris  printer  had  in  1785. 

Philippe  Denis  Pierres,  who  issued  it,  was  a  man  distin- 
guished in  his  day.  Born  in  Paris  in  1741,  he  was  the  son 
of  a  bookseller,  and  nephew  of  Auguste  Martin  Lottin, 
whose  remarkable  book  on  Parisian  printers  and  booksell- 
ers is  still  an  authority,  and  who  was  instructor  in  printing 
to  the  Dauphin,  afterwards  Louis  XVI.  The  first  steps  in 
Pierres'  career  were  taken  in  Lottin's  printing-house;  but 
later  he  assumed  charge  of  the  office  of  his  great-uncle, 

'  This  was  also  done  in  the  specimen  issued  by  Pierres  in  1770. 


CICERO      ITALIQUE^ 

gout  noiiveau  ^ 

Gravee  a  Paris  par  G  A  ISI D  O  h  jeune  ^  en  juillet 
M.  D   C  C.  L  1  y. 

Apres  neuf  jours  entiers  j  qn  /e  />/>ij}rent  a  fontenir  toutes 
ces  horreiirs  J  Annibal pariit  cnjin  aufommet  des  AlpeSjtrarif- 
porte  dejo'ie  de  voir  U  pays  qu  il  fe  propofoit  de  conquerir.  11 
le  montroit  afes  foldatSj  pour  leur  faire  outlier  les  peincs  paf- 
fe'tSj  ^  leur  difcit  qu  ils  avoicnt  force  les  murs  d' Italic^  C^  que 
ceux  de  Rome  netoient  rien  en  comparaijbn.  Cettejlateiife  ef- 
perance  <&  deux  jours  de  repoSj  rendirenc  I'allegreJJe  d^  la, 
yigueur  aux  troupes  abattues. 

Mais  void  qu'  ils  trouvent  en  s'avancant  ^  une  quant  it  e'  de 
neige  nouvellement  tombe'ej  qui  engloutit  les  premiers  qui  ont  la 
hardiejfe  defrayer  la  route  aux  autres  _,  ^  qui  en  s'  e'boulant  _, 
entraine  ceux  qui  les  fuivent  de  pres.  Alors  la  frayeur  ,  la 
conflernation_y  le  defespoir  fe- peignirent  fur  tons  les  vifages. 
Annibal  feul  J  intre'pide  &•  tranquille  raffurCj  confole  C^  excite 
a,  marcher. 

On  avance  y  C^  on  trouve  en  face  un  rocher  qui  traverfiint  le 
chemin  _,  leferme  d' un  cote  j  C^  laiffe  voir  de  L' autre  un  ravin 
de  mille  pieds  de  profondeur.  Le  general _,  qu  aucun  obfacle 
ne  rebutej  tente  d'autres  cheminsj  mais  la  neige  les  ay  ant  tous 
comb  les  ^  rendu  impraticables  j  il  rev  lent  au  rocher  ^  c5^  en- 
treprend  de  V applanir.  Il  ordonne  que  fan  abatte  tous  les  ar- 
bres  des  environs  j  ^  a  mefure  qu  on  les  coupe  ^  on  range  le 
bois  en  forme  de  bucher  amour  du  roc  ^  C^  quand  le  monceau  efl 
e'leve  a  peu-pres  au  niveau  j  on  met  le  feu  aux  arbres  ^  ^  on 
V entretient ,  jufqu  a  ce  que  I'ardeur  de  laflamme  ait  rendu  la 
pierre  aujfi  rouge  que  le  brajier  meme  qui  I'environne. 


191.  Francois  Gandd' s  Ital'ique^  gout  nouveau^  cut  in  1754 
Epreuves  des  Caracteres^Gando^  Paris ^  1760 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  273 

Pierre  Gilles  Lemercier  (of  that  eminent  family  of  typog- 
raphers), who  retired  in  Pierres'  favour  in  1765.  Very  well 
educated,  a  good  Latinist,  inventor  of  a  press  approved  by 
the  Academie  des  Sciences  and  examined  and  praised  by 
the  King,  his  work-rooms  were  a  resort  of  men  prominent 
in  the  government  or  belonging  to  the  great  learned  socie- 
ties, Baskerville  corresponded  with  him;  Franklin  was  both 
friend  and  correspondent;  Clement  XIV  sent  him  proofs  of 
all  types  in  the  Vatican  printing-office;  the  King  of  Poland 
gav^e  him  a  medal  for  suggestions  and  help  in  forming  a 
Royal  Public  Library;  and,  in  short.  Monsieur  Pierres  was 
a  Very  Important  Person. 

The  title  of  the  volume  is  —  Caracteres  de  V Imprimene  de 
M.  Pierres^  Imprimeur  Ordinaire  du  Roi,  du  Grand- Conseil 
de  Sa  Majeste,  du  Tribunal  de  MM.  les  Marechaux  de 
France^  de  la  Police^  des  Intendance  ^  Administration  Gene- 
rales  des  Posies^  du  College  Royal  de  PVance^  de  la  Societe 
Royale  de  Medicine,  des  Etats  de  Provence^  des  Congregations 
de  France  ^  de  Saint- Maur,  ^c, — merely  that!  {Jig.  192). 
It  opens  with  a  dedication  dated  Paris,  New  Year's  Day, 
1785,  signed  by  Honore  Theodore  De  Hansy,  who  arranged 
the  book,  and  who  seems  to  have  been  employed  in  Pierres' 
establishment.  The  types,  printed  on  one  side  of  the  page 
only,  begin  with  very  large  sizes  of  old  style  roman  from 
Caslon,  and  as  they  become  smaller,  roman  and  italic  of  the 
same  size  appear  on  one  page.  The  fonts  represented  came 
from  Fournier  Pame;  Fournier  le  jeiine;  Cappon;  Gando, 
successor  to  Lamesle;  Joseph  Gille  pere,  a  distinguished 
founder  (who  issued  an  interesting  litde  specimen  in  1778 
containing  some  cursive  types,  four  of  which  Pierres  pos- 
sessed); and  from  the  old  Sanlecque  collection.  Hebrew  and 
Arabic  were  supplied  by  the  elder  Fournier,  and  "exotic" 
types  are  shown  from    the  office  of  the  Propaganda  — 


274  PRINTING  TYPES 

sent  to  Pierres  through  Cardinal  de  Bernis  in  1779.  Then 
follow  letters  for  initials;  some  shaded  letters;  music,  both 
with  round  and  square  notes;  and  a  great  number  of  typo- 
graphical ornaments.  These  last  show  a  good  many  old 
forms  but  few  no\elties,  and  as  the  paper  of  the  book  is 
very  coarse,  they  do  not  seem  particularly  attractive.  At 
the  end  of  the  book  are  twenty-five  sheets  preceded  by  a 
title  reading  Figiiettes^  Fleurons,  Chiffres,  Armes,  Passe-Par- 
tous  [sic],  Cadres^  etAutres  Omements.  Graves  en  Bois^  etc., — 
an  enormous  collection  of  every  sort  and  size  of  ornament ; 
together  with  the  arms  of  France  and  the  heraldic  bearings 
employed  by  the  various  societies  and  persons  to  whom 
Pierres  was  accredited  printer.  The  last  six  sheets  are  de- 
voted to  scenes  from  the  life  of  our  Lord  and  the  saints,  in- 
tended for  calendars.  These  cuts,  from  very  poor  and  thin 
designs  by  Leclerc,  were  engraved  on  wood  by  "the  cele- 
brated Jean  Baptiste  Michel  Papillon." 

Pierres'  specimen  gives  an  admirable  idea  of  the  types 
and  ornaments  generallyused  in  France  up  to  the  Revolution. 
It  would  appear  that  this  collection  later  went  to  the  printer 
Pasteur,  whose  specimen  of  1823  displays  the  seal  of  the 
United  States  of  America  which  Pierres  procured  for  Frank- 
lin's use,  and  which  appeared  in  the  specimen-sheet  issued 
by  Benjamin  Franklin  Bache  about  1790.  Franklin's  script 
tvpes,  engraved  for  him  by  S.  P.  Fournier  iejeiine  in  1780 
and  1781,  were  displayed  on  specimen-sheets,  at  least  one 
of  which  was  printed  for  him  by  Pierres. 

The  official  emblems  of  different  regimes  shown  in  many 
French  specimen-books — such  as  that  of  Pierres — are  a 
pictorial  history  of  social  and  political  changes  in  France.^ 

'  See  Forestie's  Vignettes  Tyfiografihiques  cPune  Imfirimerie  Montalbanaise. 
Montauban,  1900,  on  which  much  of  the  foUowin;^-  is  based. 


m»nmw<iHMiiiiiiiiiiipmmm 


CARACTfiRES 


DE  L'IMPRIMERIE 


P  I  ERR  E  S, 


Imprimeur  Ordinaire  du  Roi  ,  du  Grand  -  Confeil  de  Sa  Majejle  , 
du  Tribunal  de  MM.  Us  Marechaiix  de  France ,  de  la  Police , 
des  Intendance  &  Adminiflration  Ginerales  des  Pofies  ,  du  College 
Royal  de  France ,  de  la  Societe  Roy  ale  de  Medecine  ,  des  ^tats 
de  Provence  ,  des  Congregations  de  France  &  de  Saint-Maur,  &c, 

COMPOSES 
Par  Honore- Theodore  D£  Hansy 


A    PARIS. 

«MmmmimnmHmmmimnmmHmmiiiiiiimiiiiimimwiiiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiimimii'- 

M,   D  c  a   L  X  X  X  r. 


griBaigTTmwBMisawtw 


192.  Title-page  of  Caracteres  de  Vlmprimerie  de  M.  Pierres^  Paris,  1785 

(reduced) 


FRENCH  TYPES:  1500-1800  275 

The  earliest  and  best  of  these  designs  were  heraldic,  repre- 
senting the  arms  of  France  crowned,  surrounded  by  the 
collar  of  the  Chxlre  du  Saint  Esprit.  Rendered  in  line  with- 
out shading,  they  were  very  decorative  in  quality.  In  Louis 
XIV's  reign,  such  head-pieces  and  emblems  became  more 
elaborate  in  execution;  and  as  the  military  operations  of 
the  period  increased,  to  the  royal  arms  were  added  drums, 
flags,  laurels,  and  palms.  Toward  the  end  of  the  reign  a  sun 
(emblematic  of  the  glory  of  Louis  XIV — le  roi  Soldi — to 
protect  themselves  from  which  the  courtiers,  it  has  been 
said,  carried  parasols !)  is  made  use  of.  In  the  next  reign,  ar- 
morial bearings  reflect  the  rocaille  decoration  of  Louis  XV. 
After  the  battle  of  Fontenoy,  flags  and  military  ornaments 
were  introduced;  and  when  naval  successes  were  in  the 
public  mind,  head-pieces  became  nautical,  and  sails,  ship- 
lanterns,  etc.,  appeared.  In  the  early  part  of  Louis  XVI's 
reign,  the  emblems  of  preceding  reigns  were  used,  but  at 
the  end  of  the  monarchy  we  begin  to  see  on  shields  three 
fleurs-de-lis  and  between  them  the  motto  La  Loi  et  le  Roi. 
Below  were  attributes  of  the  monarchy  and  three  orders  of 
the  body  politic — flags,  sceptres,  shields,  roman  fasces,  as 
mixed  up  decoratively  as  were  the  antagonistic  ideas  which 
they  represented  in  the  minds  of  the  people!  Later,  an  omi- 
nous Phrygian  cap  and  a  sword  with  the  motto  JLa  Libeiie 
ou  la  Mort  indicates  a  period  when  there  was  a  great  deal 
of  death  and  very  little  liberty !  After  the  storm  come  more 
peaceful  figures  — Minerva  between  olive  branches,  Mer- 
cury seated  on  bales  of  merchandise,  or  Commerce  with 
cornucopia,  anchor,  and  ships — designs  something  in  the 
style  of  Prud'hon's  pretty  designs  for  toiles  de  Joiiy.  In  the 
time  of  Napoleon  I,  everything  turns  to  eagles  (the  best  of 
them  designed  by  Besnard),  then  to  crowned  eagles,  and 
finally  to  eagles  on  a  cartouche  against  the  imperial  ermine. 


276  PRINTING  TYPES 

Sometimes  the  eagle  is  quite  an  amiable  bird  and  is  oblig- 
ingly holding  an  olive  wreath.  The  papal  arms  and  tiara  in 
head-pieces  of  that  date  are  in  allusion  to  Napoleon's  coro- 
nation by  Pius  \TI.  At  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons  (not 
a  particularly  good  period  artistically),  there  was  a  return 
to  the  ancient  royal  arms  —  three  fleurs-de-lis  on  a  shield, 
surrounded  by  flags  and  sometimes  by  olive  branches  and 
oak  leaves.  After  the  overthrow  of  Charles  X,  fleurs-de-lis 
were  replaced  by  a  tablet  (like  the  "tables  of  the  Law" 
in  eighteenth  century  English  churches),  with  the  legend 
"C/za/Yf?  de  1830";  and  in  the  latter  part  of  Louis  Philippe's 
reign,  a  Gallic  cock  sometimes  takes  the  place  of  a  crown. 
One  head-piece,  a  vignette  of  the  cocked  hat  of  "the  little 
Corporal,"  with  sword,  field-glasses  and  gloves,  laurel  and 
palm  leaves,  and  a  glory  beyond  them,  was  an  emblem  in- 
troduced when  Louis  Philippe  so  unwisely  revived  Napo- 
leonic traditions  by  bringing  back  the  ashes  of  the  Em- 
peror from  Saint  Helena.  At  the  fall  of  the  monarchy,  the 
government  suppressed  the  word  Charte  and  replaced  it  by 
Rcpiibliqiie  Franqaise.  On  the  accession  of  Napoleon  III,  a 
revival  of  the  designs  used  by  Na|X)leon  I  naturally  took 
place.  The  eagle,  however,  became  less  free  in  drawing, 
and  was  made  to  look  like  Russian  and  Austrian  eagles. 
Sometimes  the  Bonaparte  bees  and  the  Code  Napoleon  were 
added  to  the  imperial  arms.  Thus  even  ornaments  in  type- 
specimens  reveal  their  significance  in  the  light  of  history 
—  another  proof  of  the  intimate  relation  of  typography  to 
social  and  political  movements. 


END  OF  VOLUME  I 


i 


UC  SOIJTHI  RN  HI  (JONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000  894  288    0 


CENTRAL  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
University  of  California,  Saji  Diego 

DATE  DUE 


"•^pw    Z  .i   Vdfei 


<>AY  1 5  Ran} 


APRlu  i^/u 


K^"' 


SEr  _':- 


ftPR  3  0  1985 


Oirci4;9g5 


JAN  10  1989 


liioos- 


C/35 


(/CSD  Libr. 


r'^-U 


■^**s